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Wallid Regragui may have taken all the plaudits for leading Morocco at the 2022 World Cup, but Vahid Halilhodzic was the one who qualified them for the mundial
Former Morocco national team manager Vahid Halilhodzic has finally spoken up after being let go by the Moroccan FA just months before their record-breaking 2022 World Cup run.
Halilhodzic was in charge of Morocco for three years, from 2019 to 2022. He coached them to the quarterfinals of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations and also qualified them for the 2022 World Cup with a 5-2 aggregate win over DR Congo.
Why Vahid Halilhodzic was fired
Despite the success of qualifying for the World Cup, Halilhodzic was let go due to the team's underperformance in AFCON and the constant behind-the-scenes squabbles with a number of senior players.
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Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech, Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui, and Marseille’s Amine Harit all quit the national team under Halilhodzic, vowing not to return until the manager was sacked.
Fearing that things could get worse with the national team and with the World Cup approaching, Morocco decided to sack Halilhodzic for the benefit of the team, but that decision has evidently not gone down well with the 70-year-old Bosnian coach.
“I cannot forget or forgive them”
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup, Halilhodzic had kept mute about his frustrations until after the World Cup, when he finally spoke, saying, “Journalists from Morocco and Croatia called me, but it was difficult to say anything.
“Whatever I say, it won't make up for my bitterness at missing this tournament.
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“I cannot forget or forgive them. It should have been the farewell to my trainer career.”
Halilhodzic’s frustration is understandable, more so after he watched the team he qualified for the World Cup do great things at the tournament under a different manager and with the same players who cost him his job playing major roles.
Ziyech was vice captain of the national team at the World Cup, while Mazraoui was part of the famed defence that helped Morocco reach the semifinals.
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