Rumours fly as Morocco delays official word on new national coach

2008-03-12

By postponing the announcement of the Moroccan national team's new coach, football federation officials are keeping the public guessing as to whether controversial trainer Badou Zaki will return to the Atlas Lions.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 12/03/08

[Getty Images] Badou Zaki has been widely rumoured to be the next coach of the Atlas Lions. The Moroccan Royal Football Federation fuelled speculation when it cancelled a March 11th meeting in which it was to announce its selection.

The Moroccan Royal Football Federation meeting on March 11th to make the official announcement about the national team manager selection was cancelled. No other date was set and foundation members could not be contacted, but football fans and reporters think they already know who it is. Since last weekend, they have been talking about the return of Badou Zaki.

The Atlas Lions reported on their website Tuesday (March 11th) that Zaki, ex-goalkeeper of Morocco’s national team and winner of the African Gold Ball, will succeed Frenchman Henri Michel as coach. This would be the 49-year-old's second appointment as national coach, after leading the team from 2002-2005. The web report added, "Zaki claims that he is the right man to revive one of the continent's fallen giants."

Citing a "well-informed source" from the Moroccan National Olympic Committee (CNOM), Liberation also reported on March 10th that the choice of the new coach had already been made and an official announcement about Zaki would come from the Federation sometime this week. The World Cup Blog also reported that the official Federation press release will name Rachid Taoussi as Zaki's assistant and appoint Fathi Jamal as technical director of all the national teams.

Zaki "inherits a heavy burden" however, since he will be expected to qualify Morocco for both the World Cup and CAN 2010, Liberation noted, adding, "Failure will not be permitted."

Zaki has not given the federation an easy time in the past, accusing it of being too passive in its relations with continental and international football governing bodies. "There was a running battle, particularly between Zaki and federation vice-chairman Mohamed Aouzal on management issues," said physical education teacher Abdellah Mouradi. "The two couldn’t work together to restore the national side to its former glory. But we already know that Zaki has the palace’s support because he’s close to Prince Moulay Rachid."

Moroccan supporters hope the conflicts will become a thing of the past, so that a new page can be opened and the sport saved. There are many who remember Zaki's performance during Tunisia’s African Nations Cup and believe he could bring about the rebirth of the national team.

"Badou Zaki has done some excellent work with the national team. Let’s not forget that he got to the final of the ANC 2004 with a team of youngsters who were practically unknown at the time: Chamakh, Zairi, Youssef Hadji, Mokhtari…There’s a lot of potential," said Hamid Badrane, an economics student.

A great many fans of the "beautiful game" struck the same note, calling on federation leaders to put their differences to one side and concentrate on promoting the sport. Nurse Saâddine Benabbou said, "It’s not the coaches we need to change; it’s the ancient football federation members who have no clear vision that we need to change."

Many Moroccans feel the problem lies not in the choice of trainer, but rather in the whole structure of Moroccan football. "If we had a professional championship, we’d have more professional players capable of doing justice to the national side, and therefore more professional coaches," suggested IT worker Karim Faraji.

Barring any last-minute surprises, it seems likely that Baddou Zaki will officially be named. A few days ago, Zaki told the press that his return is up to the federation members. "Whatever the decision of the federation board, I’ll accept it…I’m always ready to take on the job," he said.