Canada coach John Herdman continues to burn bridges with the Croatia team at the World Cup.
Having already raised the ire of the Croatians after suggesting that his team would “go and eff— Croatia,” in their group match on Sunday, Herdman further alienated his counterpart at the end of the game.
“Whether I lose or win, I always see the other coach,” said Croatia team manager Zlatko Dalic. “He was not there. and that’s his his way of doing things. He’s obviously mad. He is a good coach, he is a quality professional. It will take some time for him to learn some things.”
Dalic’s comments came moments after Croatia forward Andrej Kramaric, who scored two goals during the match, also has some choice words for Herdman.
“I want to thank the (Canada) coach for the motivation. In the end, Croatia demonstrated who eff’d whom,” he said, through an interpreter.
Herdman said he didn’t mean to disrespect the Croatians, and took the blame for not being more composed when he made that comment.
“No [disrespect] at all. I could’ve been a little composed coming out of the huddle, but that’s my learning, I’ll take it on the chin,” Herdman said.
Herdman did not address the handshake post-match.