World Cup: Jurgen Klinsmann clarifies Iran comments – ‘I have many Iranian friends’ | Football | Sport
Jurgen Klinsmann has sought to cool the war of words between himself and Iran after head coach Carlos Queiroz called for him to resign from a FIFA role after making controversial comments about their players. The German coach was criticised for acting disrespectfully towards the Asian nation’s squad by Queiroz after watching them beat Wales 2-0 in their Group B clash.
The former World Cup winner came under fire for making comments about Queiroz’s Iran side, aiming a dig at the team for “their culture” in harassing match officials and winning free-kicks.
“Carlos fits really well with the national team and their culture,” Klinsmann said. “He failed in South America with Colombia and then failed to qualify with Egypt, and he came in right before the World Cup with Iran, where he worked for a long time.
“It is not by coincidence, it is part of their culture, how they play. They worked the referee. They work the linesman and fourth official, they are constantly in their ear. There were a lot of incidents we didn’t see. This is their culture, they take you off your game.”
READ MORE: BBC’s Klinsmann responds after Carlos Queiroz call to resign
The 58-year-old, who was in the BBC studio analysing the game as a pundit, has backed down after initially defending his comments and insisted he was not speaking culturally but purely in the context of football.
“My comments on the Wales v Iran game were purely football related,” Klinsmann wrote via his official Twitter account. “Unfortunately, this was taken out of a footballing context.
“I have many Iranian friends and was always full of compliments for their people, culture, and history. I wish them only the best for the tournament.”
Iran lodged an official complaint to the BBC over the remarks, while an enraged Queiroz called for Klinsmann to step down from his position as part of FIFA’s Technical Study Group in a lengthy Twitter post on Saturday.
The Portuguese coach called his comments a “disgrace to football” and Klinsmann’s comments appeared to add tension to relations between the USA and Iran, with a press conference ending early due to a question over such comments.
Queiroz refused to respond to Klinsmann in his press conference on Monday morning ahead of their make-or-break clash on Tuesday evening after the ex-footballer had pledged to call Queiroz to clear the air.
“It was stuff really taken out of context,” he told the BBC. “I will try and give him a call and calm things down.”
But with Klinsmann failing to give an outright apology to Iran or Queiroz in his comments, it remains to be seen whether his statement will bring an end to the saga.
