We defeated racism, that’s our message, Monaco coach says after Letná win

Sparta Prague failed to beat Monaco in a League qualifying match and lost 2:0 at Letná, but the result and performance of the match is overshadowed by the racism of the Letná fans. How does the coach of the princely team Niko Kovač evaluate the match?

Monaco showed their quality to Sparta on Tuesday, which is simply on another level. They deservedly won 2: 0. However, racism in the stadium is and will be addressed more.

“We won the game, but what was important was what happened after our first goal and also after the final whistle. We are all sad and disappointed that in the 21st century this is happening in the world. Even the pitch is the world. I want it to stop, we are all equal,” Kovac said.

According to the former Bayern Munich coach, football is a bridge to connect. That’s also why he is proud of his players, who were able to respond well to racism, even though some of them were angry and disappointed.

“I know it hurts and it’s hard to understand. It’s incomprehensible, but we said we would carry on. We won the game and we beat racism, that’s the biggest message. This is the way,” continued the Monaco coach.

Kovac then mentioned that it was definitely a smaller part of the crowd, not the whole stadium. He discussed the whole incident not only with the referee but also with Pavel Vrba. He reportedly told him that he was not responsible for anything that happened.

“We are here to play football. Hopefully it will never happen again. The atmosphere in the dressing room was very tense. There were discussions. Words hurt more than a slap. A fist to the face hurts for a day, this hurts for a longer time, it leaves a bigger scar,” Kovac said.

But in the end, the Monaco coach also evaluated the course of the match. He particularly liked the second half. He was a bit disappointed that his charges did not convert their other chances. He then complimented his team for the way they handled the whole match.

Source: BBC