{"id":523733,"date":"2026-06-29T06:49:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T06:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/523733\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T06:49:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T06:49:15","slug":"us-reporter-on-the-naughty-step-after-poor-effort-to-have-fun-at-bosnias-expense-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/523733\/","title":{"rendered":"US reporter on the naughty step after \u2018poor effort\u2019 to have fun at Bosnia\u2019s expense \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since we started bringing you snippety bits of World Cup<\/a> news a couple of weeks ago, it seems like the bulk of them have been about apologies people have been obliged to make after saying exceedingly stupid things on television. Well, we have yet another one for you. <\/p>\n

Abigail Velez is a reporter with ABC7 Los Angeles \u2013 and a former Miss El Paso Teen USA \u2013 and during a live broadcast from Long Beach she shared her expertise about the United States\u2019 opponents in the round of 32<\/a>, Bosnia and Herzegovina. <\/p>\n

Ready?<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing about Bosnia<\/a>, I could not point out where it is on a map. I don\u2019t know the first thing about Bosnia and I don\u2019t want to know. That\u2019s because Team USA, we\u2019re back, we\u2019re better than ever. Get prepared, Bosnia, because you don\u2019t want it. You don\u2019t want it like that. But you\u2019re going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some time later . . .<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a poor effort to have a little fun, I took it too far and made a thoughtless comment that was insensitive and inappropriate,\u201d said Velez. \u201cI apologise to the people of Bosnia and the Bosnian football team. The World Cup is supposed to be about uniting communities around the world, and my comment didn\u2019t reflect that spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, you\u2019d imagine B&H gaffer Sergej Barbarez will Sellotape Velez\u2019s comments to the dressingroom wall ahead of Wednesday\u2019s game in California in the hope they\u2019ll inspire his players into putting their country on the map. <\/p>\n

Sugar goes sour on Roy<\/p>\n

Has Alan Sugar a strange obsession? It would appear so. <\/p>\n

June 23rd: \u201cWhat has Roy Keane<\/a> got on his forehead? It looks like a triangle of dark hair.\u201d <\/p>\n

June 26th: \u201cDoes anyone think the triangular section of hair on Roy Keane\u2019s forehead is a wig as it looks a different colour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly, some of those who responded to him on Twitter\/X<\/a>, who were perhaps offended by the wig allegation, hit below the belt. Like Sam from Manchester. \u201cI think you look like somebody\u2019s recovered a scotch egg that fell behind the couch in 1995.\u201d Uncalled for, that.<\/p>\n

Quote<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us dreamed of this. We\u2019ve shown the resilience of the Cape Verdean people, the passion we have for our country. We have big hearts and we are fighters.\u201d \u2013 Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha after they became the smallest nation ever to reach the World Cup knockout stages.<\/p>\n

Number: 7<\/p>\n

More history for Lionel Messi \u2013 against Jordan, he became the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup games. <\/p>\n

World of Mouth <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen loyalty and factionalism are valued over competence, and incompetent people are appointed to leadership positions, the outcome is all but inevitable. I offer my deepest apologies to the public for the profound disappointment caused by this unacceptable outcome.\u201d \u2013 South Korean president Lee Jae Myung having the mother of all digs at coach Hong Myung-bo after the team\u2019s elimination. This would be like Catherine Connolly lambasting Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson. <\/p>\n

\u201cI will leave nothing to Uruguayan football. Fourth place in the qualifiers was worthless, third place at the Copa America was worthless and obviously, I don\u2019t need to comment on that performance.\u201d \u2013 Marcelo Bielsa bids a less-than-chirpy farewell to Uruguay after the defeat by Spain saw them eliminated from the tournament. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been one to hide, but to face the music. I never imagined I would suffer so much with this sport. I apologised to the lads and to all Uruguayans, although it\u2019s too late now.\u201d \u2013 Poor old Fernando Muslera, the Uruguayan goalie whose mistake led to Spain\u2019s winning goal and who, according to Bielsa, asked to be substituted at half-time \u2013 which he was.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven with our strongest 11, I don\u2019t think we could have beaten them.\u201d \u2013 Erling Haaland defending his gaffer\u2019s decision to play a severely weakened side in Norway\u2019s 4-1 defeat by France.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really can\u2019t stand it when my four leaders are called \u2018veterans\u2019. It\u2019s ugly. It is awful. They gave their answer against New Zealand. This is what Belgium\u2019s old-timers can do.\u201d \u2013 Belgium\u2019s head coach Rudi Garcia standing up for his senior citizens, namely Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Leandro Trossard and Thibaut Courtois.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not surprised at all! It\u2019s completely normal. It wasn\u2019t even a topic in the dressingroom because the group unanimously agreed that I\u2019m the most handsome.\u201d \u2013 Portugal\u2019s Pedro Neto on being declared the World Cup\u2019s (unofficial) most handsome player. Cristiano will probably ask for him to be sent home. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since we started bringing you snippety bits of World Cup news a couple of weeks ago, it seems…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[223134,2956,61,60,271,112,4018],"class_list":["post-523733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-bosnia","tag-fifa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-roy-keane","tag-sports","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}