Canada’s coach has angered Croatia’s national coach with a statement before the two nations’ duel. A newspaper from Croatia reacts with a bizarre photo montage.

The World Cup duel between Croatia and Canada is already causing a stir before kick-off.

In the run-up to the match on Sunday (5 p.m.), Canada’s coach John Herdmann had raised the tempers of his opponents with a statement. He said “We will f***** Croatia” in an interview after the 1-0 defeat to Belgium in the opening game.

The Croatian newspaper “24 Sata” reacted with a bizarre photo montage. It showed Herdmann completely naked on its front page. A large maple leaf was printed over his mouth, a small one over his sexual organ. “You’ve got the mouth, but do you have the balls?” read the accompanying headline.

Earlier, Croatia’s coach Zlatko Dalic had already expressed his anger. “The Croatian team deserves respect from everyone. We have won two World Cup medals since 1998. (…) We are the runners-up in the World Cup. We respect everyone and expect the opposing teams to respect us. This way of putting words together is not a sign of respect,” the coach huffed.

Former Bundesliga professional Ivan Perisic agreed with his coach. “I support the head coach and I can’t wait for the game to start.”

And Herdmann? He took the fuss sparked by his statement with humour. “My wife will catch you. I have a little more belly than in the photo. I ate too much,” he said on Saturday.

Even aside from the skirmishes, the matchday two game in Group F is an important one for both sides. Canada are still without points and goals, while runners-up Croatia could not go beyond a 0-0 draw with Morocco in their first match.