JURGEN KLOPP'S fiery personality was on show again today as the German clashed with a reporter over a previous press conference comment about international breaks.
Klopp previously had called the Africa Cup of Nations a "little tournament" and this seemed to have annoyed the reporter in question.
Klopp spoke after Liverpool continued their flawless run in the Champions League. Liverpool won 2-0 over Porto that left them 10 points clear at the top of Group B.
Despite the win and Thiago's goal, there was only one topic in the post-match media session that managed to get the attention
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 07: Juergen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Klopp was asked to say sorry for his AFCON remark, having insisted that he made the comment in a funny manner and that his players would be leaving mid season.
The reporter named Ojora Babatunde asked:
"Hi Jurgen, during your last pre-match presser, you deliberately called the Africa Cup of Nations a 'little tournament'.
"I think it's an insult to the players, an insult to the fans, an insult to the people on the continent and I think you owe the continent an apology."
Klopp asked the reporter to stop,
"I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean it like that, I don't know why you understand it like that to be honest..."
The journalist then added:
"That was what you said, I listened to the presser and you said the continent in Africa [is little], that is what you said."
Klopp responding to my question on his comment on AFCON being a little tournament.#AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/n9jsl9TPan
— Ojora Babatunde (@ojbsports) November 24, 2021
A defensive Klopp said:
"I didn't mean it like that, come on.
"So I was not even close to it being the idea in my mind that I want to talk about the African Cup of Nations as a 'little tournament' or the continent of Africa as a little continent, not at all.
"What I meant is, if you watch the full press conference then you might have understood it the right way and you could have understood it in the right way, because I said there are no international breaks until March now.
"I said 'oh there's a little tournament in January' and I didn't mean a little tournament, I was just something you say and... it's still a tournament, it's ironic. It's still a tournament, a big one. We lost our best players to that AFCON..."
This Klopp clown has a lot of nerve to call AFCON little.. he’d would be a nothing coach without African players carrying him throughout his career. What an idiot https://t.co/5pbQXrZyXL
— 🔥 & ❄️ (@jeremy_liit) November 23, 2021
The reporter then said: "But you wouldn't say that in Europe, you wouldn't say a 'little tournament in Europe'..."
With Klopp concluding:
"I am not a native speaker but if you want to understand me wrong, you can do that all the time. I really don't...
"I know that I would never think like this. I don't understand why you thought this to be honest, but that's really not OK as I would never do that. But that is it now.
"It was not my intention but you made something of it, so that is not so cool to be 100 percent honest."
Sadio Mane and Mohamad Salah are to depart for the tournament when it starts in february.
