Coach Vahid Halilhodzic managed to secure a place at the World Cup in Qatar for Morocco, but eliminated some ‘stars’ in the process, since ‘no one is bigger than the team’, and that move seemed too much for the national federation of the country. The popular ‘Vaha’ is one of the most successful national coaches, who managed to lead four different nations to a World Cup, but got sacked three times before the World Cup actually took place. After Ivory Coast and Japan, this was the third selection who played in FIFA’s biggest competition without him.History is made 🇲🇦 The fourth African team to ever make it to the quarter finals. Bravo Morocco 👏🏿 pic.twitter.com/ciMb86D6uZ— Samuel Eto’o (@SamuelEtoo) December 6, 2022 He didn’t want to give in to the non-football people and was replaced three months before the World Cup by Walid Regragui, who immediately called back Hakim Ziyech to the team. The Atlas Lions went to Qatar and made a complete surprise, knocking out Spain in the process. All that without Vaha. “Instead of being in Qatar, I am here in the rain. I had really invested myself in this project thoroughly for three years and it is still a World Cup that I will miss. Well, it’s life” said Halilhodzic in a big interview for the Sofoot. Halilhodzic to leave Morocco post over Ziyech rowFormer PSG man talked in length about his involvement with Morocco and Japan, who are also a big hit in this tournament, but also about the modern preparation for matches, tactics and pressures from the executives. “When you arrive in a country, you don’t know all the good players. So we have to look for them. How many tapes I watched in Morocco! At least a thousand. I updated 80% of the team. We have to find them, the players who can play for the national team. What makes a coach credible are the results. And never has the Moroccan team got better results than with me in the World Cup qualifiers. 7 wins, 1 draw having scored 3 goals per game on average. What I didn’t appreciate were the smear campaigns, to create animosity between supporters of different clubs, between locals and Moroccans abroad, that locals would be prevented from playing for their country. This pressure from the federation had already been going on for a long time. They wanted me to take 3-4 players, while the team had achieved results without them. I did not give in, because you lose your credibility when the players feel that we decide for you. Some refused to play for Morocco because they had entourages who preferred them to play for Spain, Italy or France. And afterwards, they change their minds when there is a World Cup! We are the only technical staff in the world who worked during the COVID. There, of course, I felt that with the Moroccan team that I had built, we could do something at the World Cup. I would have liked to end my career with a successful World Cup and say enough!” explained Vahid. From the third league to Enrique’s praise: Meet the Moroccan secret aceHalilhodzic also remembered his days as the Ivory Coast coach, when he was also pressured by the people from the federation. “In Ivory Coast, President Gbagbo ordered me to win so that he would be re-elected. I replied: ‘Ask the players.’ The president of the federation, Jacques Anouma, was his right arm and best friend, and I could not bear any interference, it is not the president who chooses the players. With Ivory Coast, I had a series of 23 games without defeat, before losing in extra time against Algeria in the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations” said their former coach. Hakimi: With Morocco I feel like I matter, in PSG I often just run and don’t get the ballThe most logical questions after these clashes with the executives from the national teams would be could he be a bit more flexible? And Vahid acknowledges this, but remains firm on his believes. “If I had done that, I wouldn’t be Vahid. I prefer to die with my ideas. But I’m not stupid either, I’m able to change my mind when asked, if it’s for the good of the team. But, if I’m not sure that this boy will bring more and that on the contrary, it can explode a group balance… It’s not because a player has status, shows prowess in a club, that I need him. I have feedback that you don’t. The problem, in a club, is that the coach has become the weak link, the first to be fired, but if the head of the athlete is the weak link, a club cannot perform. The coach decides, but he spends his time consulting his players, his assistants, he decides, but he doesn’t play, huh… I’m not a fake. I have never belonged to a lobby” explained Halilhodzic. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6874287##
