Vahid Halilhodzic had just seen Algeria produce what had been, for the first 45 minutes at least, one of the finest attacking displays seen at this World Cup. His team had overrun South Korea technically and physically; the whirl of movement between the attacking midfielders Yacine Brahimi, Sofiane Feghouli and Abdelmoumene Djabou, backing up the centre-forward Islam Slimani, had dismissed the impression of a dull, cynical team as ably as it had picked off Algeria’s opponents. It was Algeria’s first World Cup win since 1982, and the first time an African team had scored four goals on this stage.
It should, then, have been a deeply satisfying walk down the tunnel of Porto Alegre’s Estádio Beira-Rio for the Bosnian-born coach but Halilhodzic went on the offensive. In response to an apparently anodyne question about the enthusiasm of Algeria’s supporters, he launched into what seemed a premeditated bout of score settling.
“The fans never gave up on me, and it’s made me feel warm inside,” he began. “But the press – the press lost confidence in Vahid. This is a gift for everyone except for you. I know you’re sad tonight but this is how it is.
“There are things that have provoked such animosity in Vahid. So many lies. You have attacked my own family. My pride, my honour, no one has the right to touch those things but I have not won a battle for myself. The Algerian people have never given up on me and have expended a lot of energy, and this is a small reward.”
If his use of the third person betrayed his tautness, it was little surprise. Halilhodzic’s relationship with the Algerian media has been consistently testy since he took the job in July 2011, although their response contends that he tars all outlets with a brush that should be applied only to an unreasonable minority. These comments had in part been prompted by the reaction to the 2-1 defeat to Belgium in Algeria’s opening game.
“Tactical bankruptcy by Vahid!” was one such lamentation in Le Buteur after Halilhodzic’s team, who took a first-half lead before tiring and conceding twice late on, sat deeper and deeper after gaining the ascendancy. “We did not play with our true qualities.” The implication was that he had reverted to the negative tactics adopted by predecessor Rabah Saâdane – a strategy from which Halilhodzic has openly sought to disassociate himself.
Halilhodzic made five changes for the South Korea game and one of them, the Granada playmaker Brahimi, rewarded him with a goal whose conception and execution underscored the team’s approach. In some ways, the vastly differing faces Algeria have shown in Brazil should come as little surprise: Halilhodzic is pragmatic enough to adopt the tactics that will yield the right result on a given occasion, and felt South Korea – unlike Belgium – were weak enough to be outplayed. The question, now, lies in whether the same setup is capable of winning the point against Russia on Thursday that would almost certainly be enough for a second-round place.
Djabou, who plays for Club Africain in Tunisia, may be sacrificed for the more defensively-minded Getafe midfielder, Mehdi Lacen, with Russia’s matches to date having amounted to little more than dogged battles to close down midfield space. The rhetoric from the Algeria camp is conscientiously avoiding talk of a point. “We will not confine ourselves to defence; it would be a mistake to play for a draw against a strong Russia team,” says the striker Nabil Ghilas – but if Halilhodzic believes that a chess match is what it will take, he is unlikely to distrust his instinct.
A Le Buteur editorial on Wednesday gave the coach little respite. “Vahid Halilhodzic knows he will be under tremendous pressure,” it said. “He also knows that all Algerians expect and that he must in no way disappoint as in the first game against Belgium.”
That pressure is coming from all angles: Christian Gourcuff, the former Lorient manager who will almost certainly take his job after the World Cup – Halilhodzic having turned down a contract extension to the federation’s considerable chagrin – is known to have watched both of Algeria’s games from the stands. Halilhodzic’s rapidly-expiring deal reportedly contains a stipulation that his team qualify for the round of 16; should he create history with Les Verts in Curitiba and take them there for the first time, the post-match conversation might cast Sunday’s exchanges firmly into the shade.