American striker Jozy Altidore has declared that he will pray for the people that directed racist abuse towards him in a Dutch league match last night.
Altidore was subjected to racist chanting which included audible monkey noises during AZ Alkmaar's 5-0 win over Den Bosch in Holland, which saw the match stopped twice and supporters warned about their conduct.
The 23-year-old persuaded officials to finish the match and has insisted that he will do his best to try to ignore the abuse and pray for improvements in the supporters' behaviour.
He told reporters: "It's a bit disappointing that these things still happen in this time but you just hope that these people can find a way to improve themselves.
"I feel like I have an obligation to my club and my family not to react to things like this. I was raised better than to respond to such ridiculous behaviour.
"You would hope that we as humanity can grow but at the end of the day racism is still alive. There is nothing I can do but pray for them and hope they become better people."
Altidore has played in Spain, Turkey and the Premier League with Hull City during his career but insisted that he has never been to subjected to racist abuse during a match on the scale of last night's incident.
Liam Power
