Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp Responds After Africans Attack Him for Branding AFCON As Little Tournament

• Jurgen Klopp has defended his earlier comments over branding the AFCON competition billed for January as 'little tournament'
• The manager has lamented that some of his key players will leave England to represent their respective nations in January
• A Nigerian journalist then reached out to the tactician who inisted that his comment over the tournament was misunderstood

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stated that he was interpreted out of context after he was said to have branded the Africa Cup of Nations as ‘little tournament’.

The German tactician who was reacting to his side’s win over Arsenal in the Premier League at the weekend expressed frustrations that he will miss the services of some of some key players in January.

But the manager has insisted that he never meant to demean the AFCON tourney, saying the way his comments were twisted.

Klopp earlier said via Vanguard:

“I’ve heard that so often that there’s no international break until March. In January, there’s a little tournament in Africa, I just want to say, and I think Asia is playing games, too – South America as well, great, can’t wait.”

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Klopp replies Nigerian journalist

Responding to journalist, Ojora Babtunde of OJB Sport who asked him to apologize for ‘demeanly regarding the Africa version of Euro’s, the AFCON, as a little tournament, Klopp replied:

“I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t know why you understand it like that.

“It’s not even close to the idea in my mind that I want to talk about AFCON as a little tournament, or the continent of Africa like a little continent, not at all.

“What I meant is, because people said, and if you watch the full press conference, if you wanted to understand it in the right way you could have understood it in the right way.

“I said ‘there’s no international break anymore until March’ and I said: ‘Oh and there’s a little tournament in January,’ and I didn’t mean a little tournament, just like you say it when there’s still a tournament.

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“It’s ironic. There’s still a tournament. A big one. We lose our best players to the Africa Cup of Nations.”

Liverpool Make it 5 Straight Wins in the Champions League

Meanwhile, Liverpool continued their dominant run in Group as they beat FC Porto by 2-0 in their Champions League tie at Anfield.

The Reds have won all of their five matches in Group B and will finish top of the table as they progressed to the round of 16.

Klopp's side did not have too many problems in recording their fifth win as they completed the double over their Portuguese counterparts.