“This is my club. When they contacted me, I first said no. It took me three days to agree. My coaching career was over, I came to try to save the club,” said the 73-year-old Halilhodžić at a press conference.
Nantes is an eight-time champion of France and has long been considered a club with one of the best youth academies in the country. The club won the French Cup four times and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 1996.
Currently, the team is in 17th place in the league of 18 clubs, with nine rounds remaining.
Halilhodžić is the third coach of the season, replacing Ahmed Kantari, who was fired after only three months. Before that, Luis Castro led the team for 15 games. Nantes is seven points away from the survival zone, and two points behind the 16th place, which leads to the playoffs for survival, reports Beta.
“This is an almost impossible mission, I came to try something extraordinary. The first goal is the playoffs, and the second is to play better,” said Halilhodžić, adding that he is also motivated by the fans filling the stadium.
Halilhodžić previously won the title with Nantes as a player in 1983 and is third on the club’s list of scorers with 93 goals in the league. As a coach, he led clubs such as Lille and Paris Saint-Germain, and as a selector he also worked in the national teams of Ivory Coast, Algeria, Japan and Morocco.
“I shout in training and they heard me all the way to Paris. I ride a bike, use a treadmill, do push-ups, more than the players. I try to motivate the players in my own way,” said Halilhodžić.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
