Troussier sacked by Morocco after two months

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RABAT, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Philippe Troussier was sacked as coach of Morocco on Friday, two months after being appointed.

'We have deeply diverging views and unfortunately we cannot continue this way. So we put an to the deal amicably,' the Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said in a statement.


Troussier was appointed on October 29 to replace Moroccan Badou Zaki who resigned after the African nation failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.

The Frenchman had been due to hold a news conference two days ago to name his squad for the African Nations Cup in Egypt starting on January 20 but failed to show up. Both he and soccer officials remained mum until Friday's announcement of his sacking.

The 50-year-old coach had signed a five-year contract that would have taken him through to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

The FRMF's terse statement did not give details about the divergences with Troussier.

A top federation official, who asked not want to be named, said the 'divergences between the two sides were about management style and programmes'. He did not specify.

Troussier had returned to Africa, the continent in which he made his name as a coach and earned the nickname 'the white witchdoctor', after being sacked by Olympique Marseille in June. He has coached Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Africa.

He was in charge of South Africa at the 1998 World Cup in his homeland and Japan when they were co-hosts of the 2002 tournament.