Moroccan football icon Mustapha Hadji calls for departure of national team coach Eric Gerets following Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Mozambique in Nations Cup qualifiers.

Eric Gerets

Morocco’s football great Mustapha Hadji said on Tuesday that Belgian coach Eric Gerets should leave following Sunday’s surprising 2-0 defeat against minnow Mozambique in the first leg of the 2013 African Nations Cup final qualifying round.

“With all due respect to Gerets, it’s time for his departure,” Hadji, one of Morocco’s greatest-ever players and Africa’s best footballer for the year 1998, told French magazine France Football.

The 58-year-old boss has come under fierce criticism following a string of poor showings. Under his guidance, Morocco failed to get past the first round at the Nations Cup earlier this year before making a poor start in their World Cup qualifying campaign, amassing only two points in as many games.

Morocco will face an uphill battle when they meet Mozambique in Rabat in next month’s hotly-contested second leg. They will need to win by a three-goal margin to reach next year’s Nations Cup finals in South Africa.

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