Côte d'Ivoire coach Emerse Faé hits out at Germany's "lack of fair play" after defeat

Emerse Faé hit out at Nathaniel Brown and Germany after Côte d'Ivoire's 1-2 defeat on Saturday evening.

Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Côte d'Ivoire coach Emerse Faé believed Germany showed a "lack of fair play" during Saturday's World Cup clash in Toronto, which saw his team lose 1-2.

After Côte d'Ivoire defender Wilfried Singo put the ball out because he was injured, Nathaniel Brown decided to launch a German attack from the throw-in rather than returning the ball to the opposition.

Speaking to reporters after the game (via ESPN), Faé said he was disappointed with the German left-back.

“I told him [Brown] to stay humble. He had a great game, and he doesn't need to talk badly to us because he is losing or at 1-1 because he wants to win,” Faé said.

“We would have liked more fair play from Germany. We would have liked them to give us the ball back when Singo got injured. They are a great football nation, and we take example from them, so I was disappointed by their lack of fair play.”

Faé's team went 1-0 up in the first half but ultimately ended up empty-handed after a hard-fought game.

“Both teams deserved to win and had the chances to win the game. Well done to Germany. They won the game because of their experience. We had a great game, and I am really proud of how my players play against one of the favourites of the competition. We have to use this defeat for the rest of the tournament,” he said.

"We could have scored a second goal at 1-1, but we missed our chance. But they scored theirs. [Deniz] Undav was so calm when he took his chance. That's experience. We will use this to continue to grow and correct the little mistakes that we make. We still have our destiny between our feet, and we could qualify without having to rely on other results."

Sitting second in Group E with three points, Cote d'Ivoire take on Curacao in their final group-stage game.