Halilhodzic feels he was sacrificed by Ivory Coast

Vahid Halilhodzic believes he was sacrificed by political authorities after being fired as coach by the Ivory Coast football federation just months before the World Cup.

Halilhodzic, who was expected to lead the Elephants in South Africa, was dismissed after his team lost to Algeria in the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals. This loss was Halilhodzic's first in 24 matches.

"Our goal was to win the CAN and politicians started to put the pressure on us," Halilhodzic said Monday. "That was the president's message. We absolutely had to win. I don't really know why (they fired me), but they had to sacrifice somebody. And they were not going to sacrifice the players or officials from the team. It was the coach."

Last January in Angola, Ivory Coast wasted a 2-1 lead in injury time before losing to Algeria 3-2 after extra time.

"Until then, I was the best coach in the history of Ivory Coast," Halilhodzic said. "Eight minutes changed everything. But I knew perfectly well that it could happen when I accepted the mission."

The Bosnian coach also told L'Equipe TV channel that the deadly attack on Togo's national team that left two people dead before the African Cup distracted his players from their quest to win the tournament.

"The team was really touched," Halilhodzic said. "Some players couldn't sleep anymore, others stopped eating. It was confusing."

Halilhodzic added he was not ready to start training again even if he received a three-year offer "from an English club" during the CAN.

Ivory Coast is now chasing Guus Hiddink for the upcoming World Cup. Hiddink, who guided Russia to the semifinals of the 2008 European Championship, coached South Korea at the World Cup in 2002 and Australia in 2006.

In Tokyo, media reports say that former Japan coach Philippe Troussier is set to take over as coach.

The 54-year-old Troussier has also been in charge of Nigeria, Qatar and Morocco and currently serves as general manager of Japan Football League team FC Ryukyu.

On Tuesday, Sven-Goran Eriksson's agent said the former England coach was unlikely to take charge of the Ivory Coast team at the World Cup.

"I don't think the Swedes need to get very excited about the link to the Ivory Coast. I don't think he (Eriksson) will coach them this summer," Athole Still told Sweden's TV4 Web site. "It's correct that we met the Ivory Coast association. But we were there to see their match against South Korea, and we met their association, too. So this has been blown up from nothing."

The Elephants will play in the same group as Brazil, Portugal and North Korea at the June 11-July 11 tournament.