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Bruce: Race abuse won't stop Heskey
Evening Standard 12 Sep 2008
Steve Bruce is confident Emile Heskey will not be affected by the racial abuse directed at the striker in Croatia.
The 30-year-old helped England to a 4-1 win in Zagreb but chants from the home crowd cast a shadow over the victory.
Bruce has backed the Football Association's decision to lodge a report with FIFA but believes Heskey has already shrugged off the incident, having endured racist abuse in Slovakia in 2002.
"If you watched the game, you could hear monkey chants and all the rest of it, which I thought we'd seen the back of," said Bruce.
"But typical of Emile, he just got on with the game in hand and didn't let it spoil his performance.
"There's no chance it'll affect him. He's bigger and better than that, and the people that are doing that are morons anyway."
Reader views (1)
As a Croatian American, I'm disgusted with indignities any of my countrymen would hurl at players. I've been so proud of what the Croatian soccer team has accomplished. These types of fans demean the game, the country and themselves.
- Soccer Nona, Seattle, USA, 22/09/2008 03:21
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