Vahid Halilhodžić
A Forward during his playing career, Vahid Halilhodžić made Velež Mostar and Yugoslavia selection happy in the 1970’s. Transferred in France in 1981, he first played with Nantes, then with Paris Saint-Germain and was crowned the best goal scorer in D1 in two occasions. In 1990, Halilhodžić began his reconversion as a coach. His first great achievements were obtained in Morocco with Raja Casablanca, but he really broke through when managing Lille. He led the club from the depths of D2 to the Champions League. His charismatic personality and his dictatorial attitude with his players made him famous and gave him a distorted image, largely exploited by the media. In 2002, in opposition with the lack of ambition shown by his management, he left Lille. A few months later, Stade Rennais, who had just dismissed Philippe Bergeroo, called him. His methods turned some players against him, but Halilhodžić fulfilled the terms of his contract by maintaining the club in Ligue 1. Attracted by Paris Saint-Germain, he initially managed some great successes there, but his Parisian adventure eventually ended in failure. Dismissed in February 2005, the Bosnian worked successively in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Ivory Coast and Croatia. In June 2011, he was named as the manager of the Algerian national team.
Surname : Halilhodžić
Name : Vahid
Position : Centre Forward, Manager
Nationality : Bosnian
Date of birth : 15/05/1952
Place of birth : Jablanica (Yugoslavia)
International : Yugoslavia (15 caps, 8 goals)
Carreer :
Amateur :
Turbina Jablanica (Yugoslavia)
FK Velež Mostar (Yugoslavia)
Professionnal :
FK Velež Mostar (Yugoslavia, 1971-1981)
FC Nantes (1981-1986)
Paris Saint-Germain (1986-1987)
Manager:
FK Velež Mostar (Yugoslavia, 1990-1992)
AS Beauvais (1993-1994)
Raja Casablanca (Morocco, 1997-1998)
Lille OSC (October 1998 - June 2002)
Stade rennais FC (October 2002 - June 2003)
Paris Saint-Germain (June 2003 - February 2005)
Trabzonspor (Turkey, October 2005 - June 2006)
Al Ittihad Djeddah (Saudi Arabia, July 2006 - November 2006)
Ivory Coast slection (May 2008 - February 2010)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia, August 2010 - May 2011)
Algeria selection (since June 2011)
Honours :
Player :
1978 U23 European champion with Yugoslavia
1981 Yugoslavian cup winner with Mostar
1983 France champion with Nantes
1983 French cup finalist with Nantes
1983 and 1985 best scorer of French Division 1 with Nantes
Coach :
1997 African Champions’ League winner with Casablanca
1997 and 1998 Morocco champion with Casablanca
2000 French Division 2 champion with Lille
2004 French cup winner with Paris Saint-Germain
2011 Croatia champion with Dinamo Zagreb
2011 Croatia cup winner with Dinamo Zagreb
- Photo : Stefan Meisel via Wikimédia Commons
