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Ahmad Salah

Translated by

What happened behind the scenes? Algeria closes the Xavi file

Algeria
V. Petkovic
X. Hernandez
Algeria
Bosnia
Spain

The Spanish school remains the target

The Algerian Football Federation are moving fast to settle the question of who leads the national team next. They have struck a preliminary agreement to tear up the contract of Bosnian coach Vladimir Petkovic, and turned their attention to a heavyweight name before negotiations ran into a financial snag.

According to Algerian reports, the federation agreed in principle with Petkovic to end his deal in exchange for compensation worth three months of his salary. That paves the way for an official announcement of his departure.

  • The feeling-out phase

    According to the Algerian website "La Gazette du Fennec", the federation's officials wasted no time in hunting for a new coach. Their first move was to sound out Spaniard Xavi Hernández, the former Barcelona boss, over the possibility of taking charge of the Algeria national team.

    The report claims the Algerian federation wanted a coach from the Spanish school to usher in a new era, following the side's exit at the round of 32 in the 2026 World Cup.

    Landing Xavi would have sent a powerful message both on the pitch and in the media, it added. But the talks never got beyond testing the waters.

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  • An informed source told the same website that Xavi's financial demands far exceeded the ceiling the Algerian Federation could allocate for the national team coach's salary, prompting Federation president Walid Sadi to close the file quickly.

    The Algerian Federation has not changed tack, though. It still wants a Spanish coach.

    With that in mind, the National Technical Directorate will convene the National Technical Committee on Thursday to study a number of CVs. Three candidates will be shortlisted and referred to the Algerian Federation, who will decide on the identity of Algeria's new coach.

    Read also: The wound of the weakest link in Morocco's project: Lekjaa sounds the alarm

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