DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Iran’s soccer federation and national team coach Carlos Queiroz have angrily hit back at former Germany great Jürgen Klinsmann for saying that Iranian World Cup players use dirty tactics because its in their “culture.”
Both the federation and Queiroz on Sunday called for Klinsmann to resign from FIFA’s technical study group, while the federation said it demands an apology from the former Germany and U.S. national team coach. The federation asked FIFA for “immediate clarification” on the matter.
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Klinsmann, who coached the U.S. national team from 2011 to 2016 and led Germany to a third-place finish at the 2006 World Cup, said Friday it’s the Iranian players’ “culture” to play dirty and use tricks to turn the referee in their favor as he was commentating on Iran’s win over Wales for British broadcaster BBC.
Iran plays the U.S. in a decisive Group B match on Tuesday.
“That’s that way of doing it. And that’s why Carlos Queiroz, he fits really well (with) the Iranian national team,” said Klinsmann, who also disparaged players from Central America.
Queiroz, who is from Portugal, responded on Sunday, when he accused the former Germany forward of having “a typical prejudiced judgment of superiority.”
“Those remarks about Iran Culture, Iran National Team and my Players are a disgrace to Football,” Queiroz wrote on Twitter.
As a member of FIFA’s technical study group Klinsmann is supposed to “provide cutting-edge analysis” of all the matches at the tournament “while increasing and developing understanding of the game across the world,” according to the governing body.
Queiroz invited Klinsmann to visit Iran’s national team camp to see for himself how much the players “love and respect” soccer, but called on the German to resign from FIFA’s group over his “outrageous remarks” first.
