PARIS (AP) — At 73 and with grandchildren to look after, Vahid Halilhodzic was enjoying retirement after nearly 50 years in soccer as a player and coach.
Then, he received a call from his former club Nantes, who are once again fighting to avoid relegation from the French league.
Against his better judgment, Halilhodzic accepted the offer until the end of the season. The temptation to save Nantes was too strong.
“This is my club. A lot of people have asked me questions, myself included. When they first contacted me, it was impossible. It’s normal to ask questions. I’m 150 years old,” he joked at Friday’s press conference. “I feel like we’ve lost touch. But it’s a club I love. It took me three days to say yes. My coaching career is over. I’m here to save the club.”
Nicknamed the ‘Canaries’ due to the club’s bright yellow kits, Nantes is one of France’s oldest clubs, having won eight league titles, and has long had a reputation for having an excellent youth academy.
Nantes won french cup They won the championship four times and in 1996 won over neutral fans with their attractive attacking football and reached the Champions League semi-finals.
The team is currently ranked 17th in the rankings. 18 team league 9 games left.
Coach Halilhodzic is already the third manager this season. The Bosnian replaced Ahmed Kantari, who was sacked this week. 3 months in charge. Cantari was appointed in mid-December after Nantes sacked manager Luis Castro after 15 appearances.
Nantes are seven points away from safety and two points out of 16th place, where they will be in the promotion/relegation play-off.
“It’s almost a mission impossible. We came here to try something extraordinary,” said Halilhodzic. “And I came because there are 30,000 people in the (Stade de la Beaujoire) stadium every time. The first goal is to qualify for the play-offs and the second goal is to do better.”
Nantes were in the same position five years ago, surviving simply by winning. tense playoffs Under former manager Antoine Combouare, a former Nantes teammate of Halilhodzic.
However, Kombuare has not been able to play recently. Hired by struggling Paris FC.
Nantes owner Waldemar Kita then turned his attention back to Halilhodzic, despite having a falling out with the club when he was in charge during the 2018-19 season.
Coach Halilhodzic put his differences with Kita on one side, but Kita also had a bad relationship with Kombuare during his time as coach.
“I don’t work for them, I work for Nantes,” Halilhodzic said of Kita and his son, who is the club’s manager. “Nantes belongs to many people. We all feel a little nostalgic.”
back in time
Halilhodzic was a powerful striker who won the French title with Nantes in 1983 and is third on the club’s all-time scorers list with 93 league goals. He scored eight goals for the then Yugoslavia national team.
His colossal coaching career began in 1993, with spells at Lille (where he was named Manager of the Season) and Paris Saint-Germain, before taking charge in Ivory Coast, Algeria, Japan and Morocco.
He thought it would end in 2022.
But he’s back and leading by example in training.
“I screamed and people could hear me all the way to Paris. I ride my bike, I use the treadmill, I do push-ups,” he said. “I do 30, 40 (push-ups), more than the players.”
And he motivates his players in his own way.
Coach Halilhodzic said, “I asked (forward) Matthijs (Abrein) how many goals he had scored. He said four goals.” “That’s what I used to score in games. I like to make fun of it.” ___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
