Morocco’s federation parts ways with coach Halilhodzic – World Cup News

Halihodzic sacked

Despite successful qualification, Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic has been fired for the third time in his career shortly before the start of the WM. Although the 70-year-old had led the Moroccan national team to the World Cup in Qatar, he was sacked by the federation on Thursday. The reasons for the amicable separation were “differences of opinion and different ideas”. Around three months before the tournament, the Moroccans will have to look for a new coach.

30 years experience as a Coach

The Bosnian Vahid Halihodzic can look back on more than 30 years of coaching experience. The 70-year-old has coached the national teams of Japan, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire and has been a coach at prestigious clubs such as Paris St Germain, Trabzonspor and FC Nantes. He has been in charge of Morocco since 2019 and has averaged 2.23 points from 30 games with his team. Between October 2019 and January 2022, Halihodzic remained unbeaten with the Moroccan national team.

For Halilhodzic, a leave of absence shortly before a World Cup is nothing new. He led Côte d’Ivoire to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 but was also dismissed shortly before the tournament. He also managed to qualify with Japan for the WC 2018 in Russia. The Japanese association also parted ways with him a few weeks before the start of the tournament.

Morocco will face Belgium, Canada and Croatia in Group F at the 2022 World Cup. They have the most difficult task with the number two in the world rankings, Belgium. It remains to be seen how well Croatia will do this year. For the internationally very experienced Moroccan team, the duel with the reigning runners-up right at the start of the tournament should be a key match. Against Canada, on the other hand, a win is an absolute must.

No Luck for Halihovic at World Cups

For Halilhodzic, a leave of absence just before a WM final is nothing new. He led Ivory Coast to WM South Africa in 2010 but was also sacked just before the tournament. He also managed to qualify with Japan for WM 2018 in Russia. The Japanese association also parted ways with him a few weeks before the start of the tournament.

Max Stargard
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By Max Stargard

Even as a child, I started typing the results of the Bundesliga with my friends at school. The stakes were modest back then: The lunch, a few marbles or maybe a milk slice. Then, at the age of 9, I played the penalty bet once - and immediately got 10 right. The previous week I had won 500 DM and in my childish imagination I was already imagining how many football pictures I could buy at the kiosk on the corner. Unfortunately, it was one of those match days when everything turned out as expected and I only won DM 8.10. Nevertheless, I followed the game with great interest. Nevertheless, the passion to correctly predict the outcome of sporting events haunted me for the rest of my life. I would have loved to own the sports almanac that Marty McFly bought in Back to the Future II. Much later, when I was already working as a journalist for newspapers and as a writer for television, I came across an international betting forum with over 100,000 members - and found out that a lot of people there were giving their tips on German football, but nobody seemed to have a real clue, so I wrote a few English-language preliminary reports with a few tips - and was right about everything. After that, an avalanche started. I got offers from bookmakers, sports papers and even betting syndicates to work for them - and I accepted a few of them too, experiencing the ups & downs of sports betting and travelling halfway around the world in the years that followed. There I met Chinese multimillionaires betting five to six figures, amateur players in Serbia or Turkey supporting their families with small stakes, South Africans gambling away half their fortune, Brazilians who could only leave their favelha and become rich by making the right tips. At one point my life was similar to Matthew McCaughaney's in the film Two For The Money - and far too much stress. I subsequently moved to another continent and ran an English-language football epaper about the Bundesliga from there. After the birth of my son, I devoted myself for many years only to artistic projects in the field of photography and literature. However, I am happy to share my knowledge and passion with the readers of bettingtipsafrica.