Belgium Coach Rudi Garcia Denies Allegations That She Criticized African Football After the Senegal Match

Belgium coach Rudi Garcia denied the allegations that he criticized African football with his statements after the dramatic comeback in the World Cup match against Senegal. In the round of 32 match played on Wednesday, Belgium, after falling behind 2-0 in normal time, managed to win the match 3-2 and go to extra time with the goals of Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans in the last minutes. Garcıa said in a statement right after the final whistle: "We know that these teams lost their tactical structure at the end of the match." These comments were perceived by some as a criticism of the tactical discipline of African football. Garcia later made a statement on Instagram and stated that his words were not aimed at African teams. "By those 'teams' I meant teams that don't know how to manage being ahead in World Cup matches at a high level. My comments were definitely not directed at African teams," he wrote. Garcia stated that his observations could also be applied to Asian, South American or European teams. Statisticians Opta pointed out Garcia's past experiences, sharing that in his career in French football he lost three Ligue 1 matches in which he was leading 2-0. The 62-year-old coach won the league and French Cup championships with Lille in 2011, and later worked in clubs such as Marseille, Lyon, Rome and Napoli. Belgium goes undefeated in this year's tournament, having drawn with Egypt and Iran and defeated New Zealand and Senegal.

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