"He was a worldwide star but has kind of been forgotten a little bit, so he's trying to create a buzz." That's Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Fae on Bastian Schweinsteiger — and it's the sharpest line in a row that's overshadowed what should have been a straightforward Group E story.
The backstory: before Germany faced Ivory Coast in Toronto, Schweinsteiger said the Ivorians play "African football" — characterised as "a bit unorthodox sometimes, a bit wild, not quite as tactical." Fae heard it, didn't like it, and said Thursday that those comments "could be called racist if we were calling a spade a spade."
Schweinsteiger pushed back on Friday through ARD. "I was talking about football, not people," he said. "This is a football analysis — nothing more, nothing less." ARD Sports coordinator Axel Balkausky backed him up, saying he "cannot detect any form of racism" in the remarks and suggested a direct conversation between Schweinsteiger and Fae would clear the whole thing up.
Fae's response says more than the denial
Fae wasn't looking for a conversation. He was making a point — and he made it right after Ivory Coast beat Curacao 2-0 to qualify for the last 32 as Group E runners-up behind Germany.
"Africa is not just the physical game," Fae said. "We are very technical as well and very tactical." He's essentially used the controversy as a rallying call, and given how Ivory Coast performed in that group, he's got the results to back it up.
Whether Schweinsteiger intended offence is almost beside the point now. The framing of an entire continent's football as "wild" and "unpredictable" lands differently depending on who's listening — and Fae made clear exactly how it landed in the Ivory Coast dressing room.
- Schweinsteiger: "I was talking about football, not people."
- ARD: "I cannot detect any form of racism in his remarks."
- Fae: "Which we could call racist if we were calling a spade a spade."
Ivory Coast are through to the last 32. The debate will follow them there. Any odds on their next opponent will now come with added context — a team playing with a point to prove, coached by someone who clearly knows how to channel a slight.
