Slovakia coach Weiss criticized for media outburst

Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss has lost his cool after his tactics were questioned for Slovakia's 2-0 loss to Paraguay at the World Cup, hurling expletives at his country's media and threatening to beat up one reporter.

Weiss is heard on an audio recording posted on the website of Sme, one of Slovakia's major newspapers, swearing at journalists in Monday's news conference. He then walks out before returning briefly to physically threaten one reporter.

The Slovak journalists association condemned Weiss' outburst, saying in a statement Tuesday that a coach should be able to fulfill his duties without ``threatening the media only because they are doing their job.''

Slovakia plays Italy in its last Group F match on Thursday at Ellis Park needing a victory to have any chance of advancing.

There was still tension at the team's practice in Pretoria on Tuesday. Weiss didn't speak to reporters after the training session, sending assistant coach Michal Hipp to address them instead.

Defender Martin Petras insisted the incident hasn't affected Weiss' relations with the players.

``Things are very calm,'' Petras said. ``Yesterday, there was a particular situation with those who were in the press room. I haven't seen it. I have just read about it on the Internet.

``These things can happen because the tension was a bit high after the match. I don't know what questions they asked him, but there is nothing against us.''

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Associated Press Writer Karel Janicek in Prague, Czech Republic, contributed to this report.