Ivory Coast coach Fae saddened by Schweinsteiger’s ‘African football’ jab

Former German player’s comments that ‘African football’ is ‘a bit unorthodox sometimes, a bit wild’ sparked controversy.Even in one of the most joyous moments in his country’s footballing history, Ivory Coast manager Emerse Fae found himself managing sadness over the remarks of a former role model that have sparked debate about potential racist connotations.Nicolas Pepe’s brace guided the Ivory Coast to a 2-0 win over Curacao and took his nation to their first-ever World Cup knockout phase on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘Incredibly proud moment’: South Africa fans hail historic World Cup runlist 2 of 4A lifetime in the making: Haitians in the US celebrate World Cup returnlist 3 of 4World Cup knockouts: Who has made it to the round of 32 stage?list 4 of 4They fled war as child refugees, now they’re playing at World Cup 2026end of listBut afterwards, Fae was asked to respond to analysis given by former German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger on German public TV ahead of Germany’s 2-1 win over the Ivorians in both teams’ second Group E match in Toronto.Here is how DW.com characterised what Schweinsteiger said: “Ahead of the Group E clash in Toronto, which Germany won 2-1, Schweinsteiger said in his role as a pundit for German public broadcaster ARD that the Ivorians played ‘African football’, which he characterised as ‘a bit unorthodox sometimes, a bit wild, not quite as tactical.'”In his response, Fae noted how he once admired the former Bayern Munich man so much that he sometimes was called “Bastian” by his friends.“I think it’s sad,” said the 42-year-old Fae, who is only several months older than the 41-year-old Schweinsteiger. “He was a very, very good player; a great player.“I’ve always loved him, personally. As a midfielder, I’ve always liked the way he played, the way he understood football. … So when I heard his comments, I was disappointed, disappointed in the man.“Because when you know football the way he knows it, it’s odd that you would speak that way, which we could call racist if we were calling a spade a spade, but that’s the way it is.”