Vahid Halilhodzic believes he was left “out in the rain” as he watched Morocco advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.
With a 5-2 overall victory over the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the third round of CAF qualifying in March, Halilhodzic ensured Morocco’s qualification for the finals in Qatar.
Halilhodzic, however, was fired in August, which was his third firing from a national team position prior to a World Cup after guiding a side to qualification.
The Bosnian lost to Japan in 2018 and Ivory Coast in 2010, although he did guide Algeria to the round of 16 in 2014.
Ma nation ❤️🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/mwWFjC655p
— Achraf Hakimi (@AchrafHakimi) December 7, 2022
Halilhodzic came under fire for not picking enough locally based players and leaving out Hakim Ziyech, who did not feature in the qualification campaign.
“When you arrive in a country, you don’t know all the good players. So we have to look for them,” Halilhodzic added.
“How many tapes I watched in Morocco! At least a thousand. I updated 80 per cent 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. Seven wins, one draw having scored three 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 three-four 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!
“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!”