Having beaten Canada 4-1 the Croatia coach, Zlatko Dalic, and the forward Andrej Kramaric made clear that they were unimpressed by John Herdman’s comments before the game and the fact he walked off without shaking the hand of his opposite number.
After Canada’s first game at the 2022 World Cup, an unfortunate 1-0 defeat against Belgium, an emotional Herdman said of his team in a TV interview: “I told them they belong here. And we’re going to go and ‘eff’ Croatia.”
Having scored two goals on Sunday to confirm Canada’s elimination at the group stage, Kramaric referenced Herdman’s now-infamous comment. “I’d like to thank the Canada manager for motivation. In the end, Croatia showed who ‘effed’ who.”
Dalic had repeatedly decried his counterpart’s lack of respect in the run-up to the match on Sunday. It also became a central talking point back in Zagreb, where the country’s 24 Sata tabloid ran a front-page photo of a naked Herdman with Canadian flags over his mouth and groin region and a headline that read: “You have the mouth, but do you have the [balls] as well?”
On Sunday night, Dalic said: “I did not see the other head coach after the match. Whether I lose or win I always congratulate the winner. He [Herdman] was not there and that’s his way of doing things. He’s obviously mad. He’s a good coach, he is a high-quality professional, but it will take some time for him to learn some things.”
For his part Herdman, the 47-year-old manager from Consett in Durham admitted he may have spoken recklessly. “I could have been a little bit more composed coming out of the huddle, but that’s my learning,” Herdman said.
“I’ll take that on the chin. But from a mindset point of view, I think we showed in that first 25 minutes, that little old Canada can compete with the best in the world.”
Some 17m people tuned in to broadcaster ZDF’s coverage to see Germany play Spain in the World Cup on Sunday while 16.6m people watched the match in Spain, according to data from audience measurement firms.
Germany’s first match, when Japan beat the four-times champions 2-1, was viewed by 9.2m people, while Spain’s first match, a 7-0 victory, against Costa Rica, which aired on the Spanish national broadcaster TVE and pay television’s Gol Mundial, attracted 10.8m viewers.
Spain’s population at 47m is much smaller than Germany’s 83m.
France will look to strike the right balance between resting players and keeping their World Cup momentum going when they take on Tunisia in their final Group D game tomorrow — but some veterans are politely telling manager Didier Deschamps that rest is over-rated.
The defending champions qualified for the knockout rounds with a game to spare but if they win the group they will face the team who end up second in Group C, which features Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Mexico.
Olivier Giroud could start again after making clear he has the legs to play every four days. “We always want to play a lot. It is necessary to see how we feel physically and what the coach has in mind,” said Giroud, who will become France’s all-time top scorer if he finds the back of the net against Tunisia. He is tied on 51 goals with Thierry Henry.
“I’ve played 14 or 15 matches with AC Milan, every three or four days. I have shown that I can do it. No matter who plays, we’ll do everything we can to extend our perfect start.”
Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez issued a thinly veiled threat to Lionel Messi on Monday after he took offence at a dressing-room video appearing to show the Argentine forward nudge away a Mexican jersey with his foot after their World Cup win over “El Tri”.
“Have you seen Messi cleaning the floor with our jersey and flag?” Alvarez wrote on Monday on his Twitter account, which has 2.2m followers. “He should ask to God that I don’t find him!” Alvarez added in another Tweet accompanied by two fist emojis, an enraged red face and a flame.