Raouraoua: if Halilhodzic wants to leave, I will not try to keep him

President of the Algerian Football Federation Mohamed Raouraoua said he is not attached to Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic if he does not want to stay with the national team.

“I have recently talked to coach Vahid Halilhodzic and I offered him an extended contract with the Federation until the African Cup 2015. Honestly, we are seeking stability and we want him to stay with us,” Raouraoua said in a press conference at Dzair TV channel headoffice.

“Halilhodzic’s current contract requires qualification to the World Cup’s second round. I gave the coach a deadline fixed on January 31^st to reply to the offer. If he does not want to stay with us, he can leave. We don’t need to keep him. Honestly, I have a long list of world coaches. Many of them want and dream of coaching the national team,” he added.

This comes as tension is on the rise between Raouraoua and Halilhodzic over players Belfodil and Tayder and other issues.

Raouraoua said he was surprised by Halilhodzic’s remarks to France 24 channel. “I think that things were overstated. Halilhodzic may not mean all what he said. He is not fluent in France and does not know how to transmit his idea in a proper way.”