By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ivory Coast coach Emerse Faé slammed what he considered were racist comments made about his team by former Germany player Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Read more What have we learned so far at this World Cup? Not much
Schweinsteiger made the comments on German broadcaster ARD before Germany played Ivory Coast last weekend, when he spoke about what the German players could expect from their opponents.
“A bit African football, a bit unorthodox, a bit wild, a bit perhaps also not so conditioned by tactics. We have to be prepared for it to be unpredictable,” Schweinsteiger said.
Faé led Ivory Coast into the World Cup knockout round for the first time in national team history with a 2-0 win over Curaçao on Thursday.
Faé said after the win he hoped Schweinsteiger had made a “clumsy statement that’s not necessarily reflective of what’s in his life.”
Read more World Cup: Australia secures knockout spot with scoreless draw; Paraguay also likely to advance
“We could call it racist, if we were calling a spade a spade,” Faé said.
Schweinsteiger’s comments were criticized earlier this week as playing into racist stereotypes.
Sports commentator Patrick Schnitzler wrote on Instagram of “racist prejudices that we are all passing on unnoticed,” and journalist Philipp Awounou, who’s Black, wrote in Der Spiegel magazine that the characterizations played on old racist tropes rooted in colonialism. Awounou said he did not think Schweinsteiger is racist.
Faé said the West African team uses smarts and strategy to win just as much as physical toughness to advance this far in the World Cup. He questioned if Schweinsteiger was trying “to create a buzz” in his broadcast career by leaning on outdated racial tropes.
“When I heard his comment, I was disappointed,” Faé said. “Disappointed in the man. It is odd he would speak that way.”
Read more Late goal sinks USMNT in group-stage finale against Türkiye
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here