Vahid Halilhodžić

Early life and Velež

Born in Jablanica, Halilhodžić started playing football in his early teens at local minnows Turbina Jablanica, as the club's ground was located some 100 metres from his family home. According to his admission, he did not consider becoming a professional footballer at the time and instead chose to continue his formal education, moving to the nearby city of Mostar at age 14 to study at the local electrotechnical high school, without ever appearing for Turbina in an official match. Nevertheless, it was in Mostar that he first started taking football seriously as he went on to join Yugoslav First League side Velež Mostar academy at age 16, in part on the insistence of his brother Salem, who at the time played for the club as a striker. Halilhodžić then went on to play there at youth levels for the next two and a half years, and, upon signing a professional contract with the club, was sent on a six-month loan to second-level side Neretva Metković to gain some experience. Upon his return from loan, he quickly broke into the first-team squad in the 1972–73 season, forming a successful attacking partnership with Dušan Bajević and helping Velež finish the season as league runners-up behind Red Star Belgrade. Halilhodžić then went on to become one of the club's key players throughout the 1970s, appearing in a total of 376 matches and scoring 253 goals for the club (including 207 appearances and 103 goals in the Yugoslav First League) before leaving the…

Halilhodžić was capped 15 times for the Yugoslavia national team, scoring eight goals. After debuting as a full international in June 1976, he also appeared in a few matches for Yugoslavia under-21 team in 1978, helping them win the 1978 European Under-21 Championship where he claimed the Golden Player award for the best player in the tournament. Halilhodžić, who was 26 at the time, took advantage of the rule that allowed two players over the age of 21 to participate – hence him and Velimir Zajec (who had also already debuted for Yugoslavia full squad in 1977) were the two senior players brought in to strengthen the under-21 squad. Spanning nine years, Halilhodžić's time with the national team was marked by frequently alternating ups and downs, periods of automatic inclusion followed by years-long omissions and frustrating substitute stints. He made his debut as a substitute at UEFA Euro 1976 under head coach Biće Mladinić during the third place match versus Holland that Yugoslavia lost 2–3 at Zagreb's Maksimir Stadium. The 23-year-old Halilhodžić came on for Slaviša Žungul. Over the next couple of years, he recorded two more substitute appearances – first in September 1976 in a friendly against Italy in Rome and in November 1977 at home against Spain (the infamously violent qualifying home loss at Belgrade's Marakana that ended Yugoslavia's chances of going to the 1978 World Cup).

Euro 80 qualifying

It was not until October 1978 that now 26-year-old Halilhodžić…

Raja Casablanca

In July 1997, he signed with Moroccan side Raja Casablanca. In his first season with the club, he won the 1997 CAF Champions League in December 1997, and the 1997–98 Moroccan Championship in May 1998. These successes raised his international profile.

Lille

In October 1998, he returned to France to coach Lille, which at the time was struggling to survive in the French Division 2. His first season at the club ended with Lille finishing fourth, missing a promotion spot on goal difference. In the 1999–2000 season, Halilhodžić's club dominated the competition and finished top of table, 16 points clear of second-placed Guingamp, earning promotion to the French Ligue 1. Lille's strong performances on the pitch continued the following season, and they finished third in the 2000–01 French Division 1, only seven points behind champions Nantes, thus qualifying for the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League for the first time in club's history. The following season, after knocking out Parma in qualifying, Lille finished third in group stage behind Deportivo de La Coruña and Manchester United, progressing to the 2001–02 UEFA Cup where they reached the Round of 16 before being knocked out by Borussia Dortmund on away goals.

Rennes

On 14 October 2002, he was hired by another Ligue 1 club, Rennes, to save them from relegation after the club had picked up only eight points in the opening ten matches of the season under Philippe Bergeroo. Halilhodžić then…

During the Bosnian War in 1992, Halilhodžić was wounded in Mostar but recovered within a few months. He acquired French nationality by naturalization on 13 June 1997. When visiting Mostar with a France 3 crew in 2001, he said:

It will never be the same as before. It's impossible. There are people with such hatred in their blood ... I could never imagine this, that people could possibly hate each other in such a way. ... For years, when I come here I stay for a day or two, and then I leave, because I can't. I become sick. [When I visit] It's 2-3 days, a little bit, to reconcile with myself. On 23 July 2004, during his tenure as the manager of PSG, Halilhodžić was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic. Halilhodžić is married and has two children. His primary residence is in Lille, where his family lives. He speaks Bosnian and French, the result of spending most of his time in France.