Henri Michel: You’re fired !!!!!!

Rabat, Feb. 7 - Moroccan soccer federation has sacked national squad manager Henri Michel after an early exit of Morocco from the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana.

According to a press release of the Moroccan Soccer Federation, the decision was made following the poor results of the national team and the attitude showed by the French manager during a press conference, held on January 31 in Rabat.

During that press conference, Henry Michel -who was appointed General Manager of the team in September- put the blame on players for this outcome, saying that the national squad has “excellent players but not high-level players that can change the game at any time instead of collapsing at every moment the team is lagging in scoring.” He also criticized the national league and sports policy in Morocco.

In the African Cup of Nations, the national squad managed a good start with a 5-1 win over Namibia, but failed to keep the pace and fell to Guinea 3-2 and Ghana 2-0. This early departure sparked off a national-wide sense of bitterness and harsh comments from media, blaming this bad outcome on Henri Michel for his untimely technical choices.

(Source: MAP)