Vahid Halilhodzic has blasted the administrative foibles at his former employers the Algeria Football Federation, and revealed exactly why he quit his role as Desert Foxes head coach four years ago.
The former coach tells of a torrid time during his three year tenure in charge as he stood his ground on principles, just as he has done at Japan national before being dismissed two days ago.
In an interview with Algiers based portal , Algeriepatriotique, the Bosnia born trainer spoke for the first time why he quit the Algeria national team after the end of 2014 World Cup where he steered the team the Desert Foxes to the knockout stage for the first time before they lost 2-1 in extra time to Germany in last 16.
“I noticed that the behavior of some Algerian Football Federation officials towards me was becoming unbearable. It’s really what made me decide to leave, even before the end of the World Cup,”said Halilhodzic.
Halilhodzic abruptly quit the Foxes job on July 7, 2014, with Algeria Football Federation stating in a statement he had resigned due “personal reasons” where he also took a swipe at the press a saying he would “never forget nor forgive” their treatment of him.
Speculation in the media had linked Halilhodzic with Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor which he denied but a week later the club announced his appointment.
The 65-year-old was appointed Algeria coach in 2011 on a three-year contract replacing Abdelhak Benchikha, who resigned after a 4-0 loss to Morocco in an African Cup qualifier earlier this month.
Halilhodzic won the league and Cup double in Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb . He has also coached Lille, lifting the club from second division to the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain, Raja Casablanca and Trabzonspor.
A strong disciplinarian, Halilhodzic also led Ivory Coast but was fired just months before the 2010 World Cup.
Halilhodzic was sacked on Monday months after he steered Japan to Russia as group winners in their AFC qualifying group, but is believed to have been under pressure following the 1-1 draw against Mali and 2-1 defeat versus Ukraine in the March international window.
