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Vahid Halilhodzic greets the public of the stadium of La Beaujoire after his last meeting as coach of Nantes, August 2, 2019. LOIC VENANCE / AFP

After leaving his coaching position in Nantes, Vahid Halilhodzic was named coach of the national team of Morocco this Thursday, August 15. The former coach of Côte d'Ivoire and Algeria will have the mission of qualifying the Atlas Lions for the CAN 2021 and for the World 2022.

A strong head. This is what we often summarize the character. Even if he defends himself, Vahid Halilhodzic is not one to let himself walk on his feet. With him, it's white or black, but never nuanced. This time, it is the Moroccans who will discover the Franco-Bosnian who confesses himself not to be a diplomat. But beyond appearances, Halilhodzic remains a lover of people, football and challenges.

The former kid of Velež Mostar, with a complex personality, embarks on this new adventure after making the heyday of Algeria in 2014 with a historic round of 16 against Germany at the World Cup in Brazil. One of his finest achievements as a coach. At the end of the meeting, the coach will not come to a press conference, justifying among other things a lack of respect for Algerian journalists despite this performance. It will be his last match at the top of the Greens.

He launched Slimani and Mandi, now African champions

But no one has forgotten his three years with Algeria and most players have regretted his decision. Vahid Halilhodzic, who deeply loves his players, had burst into tears after qualifying for the Brazilian World Cup. It had allowed Islam Slimani or Aïssa Mandi to embark on the grand bath of the Greens, before becoming champions of Africa in 2019 in Egypt .

Since the epic of men of Vahid Halilhodzic at the 2014 World Cup and the unfinished mandate of Christian Gourcuff (2014-2016), the Greens have had a long run to hell: five coaches in the space of two years, a elimination in the first round CAN 2017 in Gabon and a non-qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

Morocco will be his second team magrebin as a coach. A country he knows too: He has already worked at Raja Casablanca as a coach where he won an African Champions League and a Moroccan title.

First painful experience in Ivory Coast

In reality, the African adventures of Vahid Halilhodzic are never alike. His first experience on the African continent as a coach with Côte d'Ivoire remains an injury for him (2008-2010). After getting their ticket for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he was sacked a few months before the deadline. Vahid Halilhodzic was in disgrace after the Elephants failed at the 2010 CAN in Angola.

Blow of fate, the story is repeated just before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, this time with Japan. At 67 days from the deadline, in office since 2015, Halilhodzic is asked to head to the exit. A new affront for the former Paris Saint-Germain player. He will think for a moment of stopping his technician career.

" Ivory Coast and Japan, I still have it ... Japan, even worse. I never thought it could happen, even in the worst case scenario. Fifteen days before starting the preparation. Everything was ready, down to the smallest detail. I did not see anything coming. Nothing at all. The result must be the best way to judge the work done. But that's not always the case, "he told Le Figaro when he arrived in Nantes.

Make forget the CAN 2019 of Morocco

Thirty-two years after his departure from FC Nantes, where he played between 1980 and 1985, Vahid Halilhodzic takes Canaries adrift in early October 2018. Returned to straighten the club where he had become a legend, "Coach Vahid" slams the wears this summer with an amicable divorce after a dispute with Waldemar Kita, owner of the club.

The former 67-year-old goleador leaves to settle on the bench of Atlas Lions, left free after the departure of Hervé Renard for Saudi Arabia. Halilhodzic, who has seen others, will have to forget the surprise elimination of Morocco in the round of 16 of CAN 2019 against Benin .