Jozy Altidore Victim of Racist Chants

Boca Raton Native, and U.S. Soccer star Jozy Altidore was the target of racist chants on Tuesday, January 29 during a Dutch Cup game.

Altidore who plays for Dutch-side AZ Alkmaar was taunted during a quarterfinal match against FC Den Bosch, a second-tier team.

After the match, Altidore spoke to the Dutch media about the incident and said he will “pray” for the fans who taunted him.

“It’s a bit dissapointing that these things still happen,” said the 23-year old Boca Raton Native. “But what are you going to do? You just have to hope that these people find a way to improve themselves.”

After hearing the chants, Den Bosch officials warned the fans over the speakers to stop, what was reported by AZ’s official twitter feed, as “jungle sounds directed towards Altidore”.

Referee Reinold Wiedemeijer wanted to stop the match in the first half, but Altidore persuaded him not to.

“I feel like as a football player that I have an obligation, to my team, to my club, to my family to not react to things like this,” explained Altidore. “I want to show them that club stands better than that and that I was raised better than that than respond to such ridiculous behavior.”

“We were in a good rhythm and it was important for us to keep going. I think we started the New Year right and you have to look at the bigger picture,” added Altidore.

Altidore’s teammate, Viktor Elm, also added a few words on the subject to the Dutch media, “The fans that misbehaved towards Altidore should be ashamed. I, like everybody else, am really disappointed in these supporters. It is a bad time for professional football. It is not something I have experienced in my career before.”

Despite all that, Altidore was still able to score on a penalty kick, adding to his goal total for the season, he has now scored 20 goals in 27 matches and eight goals alone in the past sic matches.
“Jozy handled it really well. He has not been tempted to respond. He was emotional after his penalty,” added Elm.

In a release, Altidore added “Racism remains prevalent in the world. The only thing you can pray for is a positive outcome from situations like these. You hope parents and coaches of young, impressionable athletes – not just soccer players – are told that what happened today isn’t right. It is never acceptable.”

&copy Copyright 2013Pedro Heizer, All rights Reserved. Written For: 90 Minutes Strong