Northern Ireland 'swomen's soccer coach said "girls and women are more emotional than men."Kenny Shiels used that logic to explain why his team took "a goal going in not very well."
The head coach of the Northern Ireland women's national soccer team has come under fire for saying "girls and women are more emotional than men."
After his team dropped a 5-0 decision to England's national team, Kenny Shiels explained that "the psychology of going 2-0 up in the women's game" caused his side to unravel.
"I'm sure you will have noticed if you go through the patterns — when a team concedes a goal, they concede a second one within a very, very short space of time," Shiels said in his post-match press conference. "[It happens] right through the whole spectrum of the women's game, because girls and women are more emotional than men. So, they take a goal going in not very well."
He added that, after his team gave up its first goal of the contest, he instructed his players to "slow [the game] right down to give them time to get that emotional imbalance out of their head."
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Stiels has since apologized "for the offence that [his comments] have caused" in the hours since. In a statement published on the Irish Football Association's website, the player-turned-coach said he's "an advocate for the women's game and passionate about developing opportunities for women and girls to flourish."
Tuesday's match drew 15,348 fans to Belfast's Windsor Park, a massive crowd that set an attendance record for a women's soccer match hosted in Northern Ireland, according to the BBC.
"Last night was a special occasion for the women's game in Northern Ireland," Stiels said in his statement. "I am proud to manage a group of players who are role models for so many girls, and boys, across the country."