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Gourcuff Undecided On Algeria National Team Stay

Gourcuff Undecided On Algeria National Team Stay

Algeria national team coach Christian Gourcuff is taking some time away from his duties at the helm of the North African country’s football squad to decide whether he will return to the position or make way for a new appointment.

This comes in the wake of pressure from the local media, and a souring of the relationship between the French tactician and the Algerian press, who are very influential in the country.

For the moment Gourcuff has returned to France, where he is pondering his next move, but he seems to have lost confidence in his efforts with the Fennec Foxes, and will look to settle his future one way or another in a discussion with the FA president.

“After the game against Senegal [1-0 victory in a friendly last month], I had said that there was a possibility for me to be gone in a month’s time,” Gourcuff revealed, according to the BBC.

“Right now I am going to take a few days off and think about what I must do. I cannot say if I am going to stay or not, because to take such a decision I first need to meet with the president of the Algerian federation and discuss things with him,” he added.

Having helped Algeria to progress from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers to the final 20 teams in Africa thanks to a stunning 9-2 aggregate win over Tanzania in their tie, Gourcuff will now decide on his future.

The coach replaced the popular former coach Vahid Halilhodzic in August last year, and brought the Algerians to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations at the beginning of 2015, after which he was awarded an extension to his contract.

But the media has been a difficult element of the local game for Gourcuff to contend with, and he may decide to resign after his period of reflection in France.