DPA
Doha
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic has reacted with anger after Canada counterpart John Herdman apparently used a swear word to describe how his side were going to beat their Group F rivals.
The pair meet on Sunday after Croatia's 0-0 opening draw with Morocco and Canada's unlucky 1-0 defeat by Belgium. Croatian media haven taken offence at Herdman's remark and newspaper 24 Sata printed a photo montage of Herdman completely naked on its front page.
"The Croatian team deserves respect from everyone. We have won two World Cup medals since 1998. We are the World Cup runners-up," Dalic told a news conference on Saturday.
"We respect everyone and expect the opposing teams to respect us. This way of putting words together is not a sign of respect."
Winger Ivan Perisic agreed, appearing to suggest the comments have given him extra motivation: "I support the head coach and I can't wait until the game starts."
The 24 Sata front page had a large maple leaf covering Herdman's mouth and a smaller one covering his genitals.
"You have the mouth, but do you have the balls?" the newspaper asked.
Herdman laughed off the front page.
"We've been on a media blackout since November 14, so there's not much we see in the media, but when you get a text from your wife telling you you need to start working out before you get home, you
know something's going on," he smiled.