Jurgen Klinsmann is at the World Cup as a ` pundit and sits on Fifa’s technical study group to analyze how the game is progressing
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Jurgen Klinsmann says he wants to speak to Carlos Queiroz to ‘calm things down’ after the Iran manager described the German’s criticism of his side as a ‘shame on football’.
Queiroz tweeted that the comments “undermine our efforts, sacrifices and abilities” and invited him to their camp.
He also asked him to resign from Fifa’s technical study group for the World Cup.
Klinsmann – who won the 1990 World Cup with Germany – told ` Breakfast on Sunday morning: “Things have really been taken out of context. I’ll try to call him and calm things down.
“I never criticized Carlos or the Iranian bench. Some even thought I was criticizing the referee for not doing anything about their behavior on the bench.”
“All I was describing was their emotional way of doing things, which is in a way admirable. The whole bank lives the game. They jump up and down and Carlos is a very emotional coach, he’s always trying to sideline to give his players all his energy and direction.”
What did Klinsmann say?
After Friday’s 2-0 win over Wales, ex-striker Klinsmann told the `: “Carlos fits in really well with the national team and their culture, he failed in South America with Colombia and then didn’t qualify with Egypt and he came shortly before the World Cup to Iran, where he worked for a long time.
“It’s not a coincidence, it’s part of their culture how they play.
“They work with the referee. They work with the linesman and the fourth official, they’re always listening. There have been a lot of incidents that we haven’t seen. That’s their culture, they take you out of your game.”
How did Queiroz react?
In a series of tweets on Saturday night, Queiroz wrote: “Even if you don’t know me personally, you question my character with a typical biased judgment of superiority.
“No matter how much I respect what you did on the pitch, these comments about Iranian culture, the Iranian national team and my players are a disgrace to football.”
He invited Klinsmann to the team’s camp to meet the players and learn about the country, its culture and “hear from our players how much they love and respect football”.
The former Manchester United assistant added: “At the same time, we want to follow Fifa’s decision regarding your position as a member of the Qatar 2022 Technical Study Group with full attention. Because of course we expect you to give notice before you visit our camp.”
Led by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, the technical study group provides World Cup analysis to see how the game is progressing.
Iran lost their opening game 6-2 to England before beating Wales and meet the USA in their final group game on Tuesday.
They are playing at home in the tournament amid anti-government protests.
Iran’s players sang their national anthem ahead of Friday’s World Cup game against Wales, having failed to do so ahead of their opener against England.
At the start of the tournament, Queiroz criticized the Iranian fans for not supporting the team in their team 6-2 defeat by England.
He also confronted a ` journalist at a press conference ahead of the Wales game as to why England manager Gareth Southgate isn’t faced with the same level of questions as he is on political matters.
Watch: Iran football manager Carlos Queiroz confronts ` correspondent Shaimaa Khalil
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