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American player Julian Green racially abused in German Cup soccer game

HALLE, Germany (AP) — American soccer player Julian Green was the victim of racist abuse in a German Cup game on Saturday.

Green, who is Black, was playing for Greuther Fuerth against host Hallescher FC in the first round of the competition.

On the Fuerth club website, Green said a spectator racially abused him during the game.

Fuerth coach Alex Zorniger said the abuse occurred repeatedly and called for other fans to intervene in cases of racist abuse.

“The stadium was 95% full. There were enough people there who could have intervened,” Zorniger said in comments reported by German news agency dpa.

The dpa agency also reported that Halle club spokeswoman Lisa Schöppe issued an apology on behalf of the club.

Green has played for Fuerth in Germany since 2017 and also played 15 times for the United States national team from 2014 through 2018.

Second-tier Fuerth beat third-tier Halle 1-0.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer