Halilhodzic's ignominious hat-trick leaves Morocco in search of new coach ahead of Qatar 2022
August 12 – Morocco sacked national team coach Vahid Halilhodzic three months before the World Cup in Qatar; this is the third time the Bosnian has narrowly missed football's star event.
Halilhodzic was sacked as head coach of Ivory Coast four months before the 2010 tournament and by Japan two months before Russia 2018.
The extraordinary feat of being sacked three times by national teams after qualifying for the World Cup final must be something of a record, but there had been months of speculation about Halilhodzic's fate
While he helped Morocco secure their place in Qatar with an unbeaten qualifying run, the Moroccan federation said there were clashes over how the national team should prepare for the final.
"Given the differences and divergent visions between the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and national coach Vahid Halilhodzic on how best to prepare the national football team for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the two sides have decided to part ways," the federation said in a statement.
Halilhodzic's possible departure was partly prompted by a poor performance in the Africa Cup of Nations final in January and, in particular, his falling out with star midfielder Hakim Ziyech who decided to retire from international football as a result, only for federation president Fouzi Lekjaa to then announce that the door was open for Ziyech to return.
Last year, Halilhodzic accused the Chelsea player of faking an injury to miss friendlies and ruled him out of the World Cup qualifying campaign and Nations Cup final .
But Lekjaa pushed for the return of the Dutch-born midfielder amid public outcry over his absence, putting the federation boss at odds with his coach, who was appointed to the job at Morocco three years ago.
Contact the author of this story at moc.l1660367910labto1660367910ofdlr1660367910owedi1660367910sni@w1660367910ahsra1660367910w.wer1660367910dna1660367910
August 12 – Morocco sacked national team coach Vahid Halilhodzic three months before the World Cup in Qatar; this is the third time the Bosnian has narrowly missed football's star event.
Halilhodzic was sacked as head coach of Ivory Coast four months before the 2010 tournament and by Japan two months before Russia 2018.
The extraordinary feat of being sacked three times by national teams after qualifying for the World Cup final must be something of a record, but there had been months of speculation about Halilhodzic's fate
While he helped Morocco secure their place in Qatar with an unbeaten qualifying run, the Moroccan federation said there were clashes over how the national team should prepare for the final.
"Given the differences and divergent visions between the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and national coach Vahid Halilhodzic on how best to prepare the national football team for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the two sides have decided to part ways," the federation said in a statement.
Halilhodzic's possible departure was partly prompted by a poor performance in the Africa Cup of Nations final in January and, in particular, his falling out with star midfielder Hakim Ziyech who decided to retire from international football as a result, only for federation president Fouzi Lekjaa to then announce that the door was open for Ziyech to return.
Last year, Halilhodzic accused the Chelsea player of faking an injury to miss friendlies and ruled him out of the World Cup qualifying campaign and Nations Cup final .
But Lekjaa pushed for the return of the Dutch-born midfielder amid public outcry over his absence, putting the federation boss at odds with his coach, who was appointed to the job at Morocco three years ago.
Contact the author of this story at moc.l1660367910labto1660367910ofdlr1660367910owedi1660367910sni@w1660367910ahsra1660367910w.wer1660367910dna1660367910
What's Your Reaction?
