Algeria Football– Former Atlas Lions coach Vahid Halilhodzic continues to harbor palpable bitterness when questioned about his time at the head of the Moroccan national team. At 72, the man who qualified several nations for the World Cup, without being able to compete in some of them, does not seem ready to turn the page on his tumultuous experience with Morocco.
Recently, Halilhodzic delivered a scathing response to an attempted interview from Soccer212. “Even the M from Morocco, I don’t want to pronounce it, they took me for an idiot! », blurted the Bosnian technician, visibly still marked by his ouster before the 2022 World Cup. This is not the first time that the former coach has expressed his resentment towards the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF).
A trauma that persists
This statement is part of a series of virulent positions taken by Halilhodzic since his departure from Morocco. Last December, during an interview with an Egyptian channel, he had already refused to raise the subject: “I don’t want to talk about the Moroccan national team. » In May, he still described this dismissal as an open wound, comparable to similar experiences with Ivory Coast in 2010 and Japan in 2018, where he was ousted after qualifying these selections for the World Cup.
The breaking point with the FRMF dates back to a major disagreement concerning Hakim Ziyech, a Moroccan football star then at odds with the coach. Halilhodzic has always claimed to have been pushed out for refusing to recall the player, which he said went against his principles.
Two contradictory versions
This version of the facts was categorically contested by Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the FRMF, who justified Halilhodzic’s departure by a deleterious atmosphere within the team. “The atmosphere around the national team was not healthy three months before the World Cup, so a bold decision was necessary,” he explained. Lekjaa also mentioned a fundamental divergence between Halilhodzic’s vision and the ambitions of Moroccan football.
For Moroccan supporters, the Federation’s arguments were echoed in the resounding success of Walid Regragui, Halilhodzic’s successor. Under his leadership, the Atlas Lions completed a historic run by reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup. This triumph reinforced the idea that Halilhodzic’s departure, although controversial, had paid off.
An unchanged speech
Despite the team’s performance after his departure, Halilhodzic remains firm in his positions, not hesitating to describe his ouster as an “injustice” and a “betrayal”. His resentment seems fueled by a feeling of unfinished business and by the fact of having been sidelined after having built the foundations of a successful qualification.
Today, Halilhodzic carefully avoids anything related to Morocco, so much so that even the mention of the country provokes a knee-jerk reaction in him. “I don’t understand why we always come back to this story,” he once declared, before adding: “It’s a pain that I prefer to forget. »
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