Football can be a cruel game, but few have suffered as much as Niger coach Harouna Doula at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Named Africa Coach of the Year in 2011 after leading his small landlocked country to their first ever Nations Cup at the expense of continental kings Egypt and South Africa, the 46-year-old has endured a humiliating competition.
“It’s been a tough time for Doula here and after what’s happened the Niger Federation will take stock, but they will be looking for a new coach,” a source in the Niger camp told AFP on Wednesday.
In what should have been his crowning hour he leaves Gabon embarrassed after being unceremoniously replaced at the helm by Rolland Courbis, hired just three weeks before battle commenced as ‘consultant’.
Courbis assumed Doula’s responsibilities after Niger’s chaotic opening 2-0 loss to the co-hosts.
The Menas put that debacle behind them with an improved display in their second match, when they were seconds away from earning their very first Cup point only for Tunisia to score in the 90th minute for a 2-1 win.
Niger’s Nations Cup campaign closed on Tuesday with a 1-0 loss to Morocco.
Doula has taken the public ignominy heaped upon him with the utmost dignity, sitting impassively in the dug out for the last two matches as former Marseille boss Courbis called the shots from the touchline.
While the Frenchman says he is returning to his day job as a radio broadcaster, Doula’s future too lies elsewhere after Wednesday’s confirmation that he was out of a job.
When questioned about his demotion during the competition he told goal.com: “Like I said before, I can’t tell the press everything. We are okay and I obey my bosses and accept their decisions, all for the sake of a functioning team.”
Eric Gerets in contrast is confident, with qualifying for the 2014 World Cup starting in June, of holding on to his post as coach of Morocco.
The Atlas Lions turned up in Gabon with high expectations, but leave after what Gerets labelled a “catastrophic” campaign, the only bright point Tuesday’s narrow closing defeat over minnows Niger.
The Belgian, like Courbis a former manager of Marseille, said: “I’m going to continue. I’m not going to quit. I’m not afraid of looking people in the face. I will not be leaving.
“The disappointment will be even greater tomorrow when I will meet people on the streets (of Morocco), people who gave me a great welcome, now I’m going to see the flip side of the coin and in a way that’s deserved.
“We experienced a terrible crisis of confidence here, but my players gave the first sign of life (against Niger).
“Like a boxer, we were KOed, the bell rang but the boxer gets up and fights on.”