Bordeaux coach and former France international Willy Sagnol apologised yesterday for comments he made about African footballers, although he still claims they were misinterpreted.

Sagnol, capped 58 times by France and a member of the team which lost the 2006 World Cup final, gave a question and answer session Tuesday to readers of the Sud-Ouest regional newspaper when the subject of African players was raised.

"The advantage of what I would call the typical African player is that he isn't expensive when you sign him, (he is) a player who is ready for combat, but football isn't just about that," Sagnol said.

Explaining himself, he continued: "Football is also (about) technique, intelligence. You need a bit of everything. You need Nordics too, Nordics are good."

At a pre-match news conference yesterday ahead of Saturday's game with Lens, Sagnol tried to explain his comments.

"If by my lack of clarity, or my imperfect semantics, I may have shocked, humiliated or hurt people then I am sorry," Sagnol said.

He claimed that by "combat" he was referring to "the young African player arriving in Europe with all of his will to win and often to escape from a precarious situation.

"The intelligence I spoke of was obviously related to tactical intelligence.

"The forming of young players in Africa, probably because of a lack of financial means, or (lack) of infrastructure, isn't always as complete as what's available in Europe."

But Lens coach Antoine Kombouare, who was born in New Caledonia, said: "Let's make things clear: this is not a case of him being clumsy. He's really messed up.

"What he said is serious. It's unacceptable. Explaining that an African player is cheaper ... I felt humiliated and hurt."

The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism strongly condemned Sagnol, as did former Marseille president Pape Diouf, who called for African players to boycott a round of French league games in protest.

Bordeaux captain Lamine Sane, a Senegal international, called Sagnol's comments "clumsy" before defending him.

"He doesn't have any twisted ideas. He believes in all the black players in the team," Sane told French radio. "We believe in him and we hope to go very far with him."