Former Morocco Coach Halilhodzic Still Bitter Over 2022 World Cup Dismissal

"I have never had so many proposals for national teams and clubs in my life [...] Clubs in Europe, national teams in Africa, in Asia [...] but I have family obligations, I have stayed with my family since my departure from Morocco because, to tell the truth, I was marked by this dismissal. I did not expect it at all. But rest assured, I really had a lot of proposals. It’s me who hasn’t accepted to dive back in for the moment. It’s true that I will return to football. When? I don’t know yet," Vahid Halilhodzic said in an interview with Afrik Foot.

This disappointment has marked him to the point that he hesitates to commit to another national team. "Seven, eight or even ten African nations have contacted me [...] I was touched with this disappointment in Morocco. If you want to do this job, you need total commitment, physical, moral, mental. It’s being ready to give everything. For me, money is not the most important thing. I like to build projects, and go all the way by giving everything. I like sports projects with ambition," said the Franco-Bosnian technician. He also refrained from any comment on the historic and exceptional journey of Morocco at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Fired three months before the World Cup final in Qatar, coach Vahid was replaced by Moroccan Walid Regragui, who is still in office. At the origin of this dismissal, the difficult relations between him and certain players, in particular the star of the Atlas Lions, Hakim Ziyech. "I am constantly observing the evolution of national teams at all age levels, and despite its qualification for the World Cup, the atmosphere within the Moroccan national team was not healthy three months before the World Cup and a change was necessary, knowing that I respect the logic and philosophy of Vahid Halilhodžić, but the interest of Morocco and the Moroccans comes first," Fouzi Lekjaâ explained in an interview with the Egyptian channel On Time this year.

During his interview, coach Vahid was asked about his relations with Jérôme Rothen and Fabrice Fiorèse at PSG, and Hakim Ziyech. "Fiorèse? I don’t want to talk about it today. Some blame me for not being buddy-buddy with them, that’s my nature. For Rothen, he doesn’t deserve me to talk about him!" replied the Franco-Bosnian technician.