The evil eye of the World Cup haunts Halilhodzic after his dismissal from the post of coach of the national team of Morocco

For the third time in his career, Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic was sacked from his position a few months before the start of the World Cup after he managed to lead the team he oversaw to the final.

On Thursday, the Moroccan Football Association announced its “agreed” parting ways with Atlas Lions coach Halilhodzic, almost three months before the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation said in a statement that the decision was made “in light of differences and differing views (…) on the best way to prepare the national football team for the final” of the World Cup.

The statement did not specify the identity of the coach who will replace Halilhodzic, stressing that the federation “will provide all means and opportunities to prepare the national team for participation in the World Cup.”

World Cup feeling haunts Halilhodzic

And Halilozic had previously tested the same scenario with the Ivory Coast and Japan teams that he led to the 2010 and 2018 World Cups respectively before being sacked from his position just days before the final kicked off.

The Bosnian coach spoke of his dismissal from the Ivory Coast a few months before the start of the 2010 World Cup in an interview with Agence France-Presse ahead of the start of the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year: “(My dismissal) was not just a lack of respect, but much more It was disgusting, I never accepted it.”

“They (the Ivorian Football Federation) sent me a fax, I didn’t even meet with the president of the federation or even with the general secretary. All they told me was, “You didn’t win the Africa Cup of Nations and it’s over, with bad words and without decency.”

Eight years later, Halilhodzic suffered the same fate, this time when he was sacked as coach of Japan about two months before the Russia 2018 World Cup.

Halilhodzic said about this: “They threw me in the trash can. The method that was used to fire me shows complete disrespect for what I have given to Japanese football.”

Today it was the Moroccan Federation’s turn to terminate Halilhodzic’s contract, but “by mutual agreement”, according to the statement released first.

The Bosnian was able to maintain his position after qualifying for the World Cup only once, when he led Algeria in the 2014 final and reached the final price with it, a first of its kind achievement for the Desert Fox team. .

Source: AFP.

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