Former Miss Croatia teases Japanese fans with sushi video after win at World Cup
By Bryan Ke
Croatian model Ivana Knoll teased Japanese fans with a video of herself eating sushi after Croatia’s win against Japan at the World Cup in Qatar on Monday.
Knoll, 30, had earlier in the day taunted Japan’s national football team, known as the Samurai Blue, with an Instagram post containing pictures of herself in front of the same sushi rolls before their match.
“Japan, we are ready for you,” the German-born Croatian wrote in the post’s caption with a sushi emoji.
Croatia will advance to the quarterfinals after a dramatic 3-1 penalty shootout during its game against Japan at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar. Both teams tied 1-1 in the 60-minute run and were given an extra 30 minutes of overtime. The game was eventually pushed to a penalty shootout after Japan and Croatia failed to make a goal during the overtime.
Following Croatia’s high-stakes win, Knoll took to her Instagram again to post the video of herself eating the sushi rolls, writing in the caption, “Only sushi is on today’s menu.”
Replying to her post, one Japanese Instagram user congratulated Knoll’s team for winning the game. Meanwhile, another Instagram user asked the model if she only posted the video because Croatia beat Japan.
“I am your fan in Japan! Thanks for the great match,” a Japanese Instagram user wrote. “I support the Croatia national team.”
“Still Japan literally showed what Asian football is kudos to them,” one Instagram user commented.
“You may have won on penalties (and you were lucky), but Japan played better,” another user commented. “So you can show respect.”
Before the match, Knoll, who has over 1.5 million followers on Instagram, was spotted taking pictures with several Japanese football fans at the game. She also posed with other Japanese fans outside the stadium.
A few days earlier, Knoll was criticized online for attending Croatia’s match against Morocco while wearing a skin-baring outfit. Mohammed Hassan Al-Jefairi, a prominent Qatari entrepreneur, took to Twitter to slam the model’s clothing and explained that the grinning men who took photos of her as she walked down the stairs were not smiling because they liked how she dressed.
“Just for your info they take a photo not because they like her but because they don’t like the way she is miss dressed on regards to our culture,” he wrote. “You can confirm this with any local Qatari.”
Those visiting Qatar to watch the World Cup are advised to wear clothes covering their shoulders and to avoid wearing short skirts when entering specific establishments, such as museums, shopping centers and select restaurants. Failure to do so may result in a hefty fine or a jail sentence.
Commenting on the rules, Knoll admitted that she was shocked after hearing the dress code, noting that she realized she had no clothes that fit the description.
“I was super angry because if I’m not a Muslim and if we in Europe respect hijab and niqab, I think they need also to respect our way of life, our religion and in the end me wearing dresses, bikinis because I’m Catholic from Croatia who is here because of the World Cup,” Knoll said.
Featured Image via @knolldoll
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