CARLOS: JUR A DISGRACE
JURGEN KLINSMANN has vowed to speak with Carlos Queiroz after the Iran coach branded the German legend “a disgrace to football” over comments made about his team.
Klinsmann claimed Iran “worked the referee” and said that was part of their “culture”, comments that enraged Queiroz, who said the former Tottenham striker (circled) should resign from his FIFA role. Queiroz (below) took to Twitter to hit back at Klinsmann and invited him to visit Iran’s training camp to learn about their culture.
He wrote: “No matter how much I can respect what you did inside the pitch, those remarks about Iran culture, the Iran national team and my players are a disgrace to football.
“At the same time, we just want to follow with full attention what will be the decision of FIFA regarding your position as a member of Qatar 2022 Technical Study Group because we obviously expect you to resign before you visit our camp.”
Klinsmann, who made his comments after Iran’s 2-0 win over Wales in his role as a pundit for the BBC, said he intended to call Queiroz to explain his remarks and try to defuse the situation. “There was stuff really taken out of context,” he said.
“I will try to give him a call and calm things down.
“I have never criticised Carlos or the Iranian bench. Some even thought I was criticising the referee because he didn’t do anything about the way they were behaving on the bench.
“All I described was their emotional way of doing things, which is actually admirable in a certain way. The whole bench lives the game.
“They’re jumping up and down and Carlos is a very emotional coach, he’s constantly on the sidelines trying to give his players all his energy and direction.”
The remarks Iran and Queiroz took exception to went unchallenged on the BBC as Klinsmann claimed their players and bench had been able to influence Friday’s match officials. An Iranian FA statement also laid into Klinsmann and referenced West Germany’s “fixed” match with Austria at the 1982 World Cup. It read: “He will not be judged by his famous dramatic dives or any other historical matters related to his country.”