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'But do you have the b***s?' Newspaper trolls Canadian coach John Herdman over 'F*** Croatia' jibe

The war of words began shortly after Canada lost their first World Cup match in 36 years, outplaying Belgium for a 1-0 loss

ZAGREB, CROATIA: A Croatian newspaper has blasted Canada football team manager, John Herdman, by publishing a photoshopped image of him naked on their front cover, just days after he boldly declared on Thursday, November 24, that his team will 'F' Croatia when they next meet. In response to his remarks, Croatia's daily tabloid newspaper 24 Sata (24 Hours) published a full-page photo of a naked Herdman wearing maple leaf-shaped Canadian flags over his mouth and manhood, with the headline: "You have the mouth, but do you have the balls?"

The war of words began shortly after Canada lost their first World Cup match in 36 years, outplaying Belgium for a 1-0 loss. In an on-field interview, Herdman is heard saying, "I told them they belong here. And we're going to go and eff Croatia, that's as simple as it gets," as he smiled avoiding television profanity. However, the coach held it and declared in the interview, though in a heat of the moment, it was what he said, "You say those things in an impassioned moment trying to inspire your team in a huddle, and when you're asked the question what you said in that huddle, yeah, it was what I said."

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"Croatian tabloid 24sata has hit back at Canada coach John Herdman after he said, 'We're going to go and "F" Croatia...' The headline reads, 'You have the mouth, but do you have the balls as well?'" Ben Jacobs wrote on Twitter.

However, the remarks have been criticized and Herdman has been targeted by the Croatian press ever since. The Croatian manager Zlatko Dalic while disapproving of comments from Herdman demanded respect, “The Croatian team deserves respect from everyone. We deserve respect and dignity. We respect everyone equally so. We are worthy of their respect. The Canadians must also have respect for us.” “This way of putting words together is not a sign of respect. We are runners-up, we deserve respect,” Dalic was quoted by The Atlantic. Back in Canada, the Toronto Sun felt impelled to provide a Saturday front page response, claiming: “Our balls are bigger.” "Be sure to check out today's Toronto Sun!", it wrote with a cover photo. With Sunday, November 27, the F groups encounter now has extra spice to it, the Daily Mail noted. 

Despite the loss to Belgium, Canada earned a lot of respect and was far superior throughout the 90 minutes. Canada had 21 shots on goal against Belgium in its first World Cup game in 36 years, including a penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois. Croatia, which lost 2018 final to France, is the world's 12th-ranked team and opened with a 0-0 draw against Morocco.