Croatia international Ivan Perisic "cannot wait" for his side to face Canada in their World Cup group clash after coach John Herdman's controversial comments this week.
Herdman was emotional after the final whistle of his side’s opening group game defeat by Belgium and sent a warning to their next opponent by claiming that Canada were "going to go and F Croatia" in their second fixture, which will be played on Sunday afternoon.
Croatian tabloid 24 Sata subsequently mocked up a naked picture of Herdman on their front page with Maple Leaf-shaped Canadian flags covering his mouth and manhood, to ramp up tensions ahead of the meeting between the two nations. The picture was accompanied by a headline which translated into English as: "You have the mouth, but do you have the balls as well?"
"I told them (his players) they belong here and we’re going to go and f Croatia," Herdman said with a smile in his post-game pitchside interview after his nation’s first match at a World Cup finals since 1986. "That’s as simple as it gets."
Perisic and Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, who led his side to the World Cup final in 2018, were unimpressed with Herdman’s quotes and made clear during their press conference this week that they will simply motivate them further ahead of the clash on Sunday.
When asked to address the issue, boss Dalic said: "The Croatia team deserves respect from everyone. We have proven that by the way we have played and our conduct during the World Cup. We are the runners-up, second in the world. We respect everyone equally, so we expect our opposing teams to respect us. This way of putting words together is not a sign of respect."
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Tottenham wideman Perisic, who was the designated Croatia player for the press conference, echoed his coach’s comments to reflect the mood in the nation’s dressing room: "I second the head coach and I cannot wait for the match to begin."
Herdman began his coaching career as a development coach for Sunderland's youth academy until 2001 before moving to New Zealand, where he was head coach for the nation’s women’s side between 2006 and 2011. He then enjoyed seven years at the helm of Canada’s women’s team prior to switching to the North American nation in 2018.
Despite their opening-game defeat by Belgium, Canada earned plenty of plaudits for their performance, with many believing they were the superior side in the game. Croatia started their campaign with a goalless draw against Morocco in what appears to be a finely-balanced group.
