Frenchman Hubert Velud has assured the public that he is still has a job as the Sudan national team head coach.
While media reports claimed Velud has been shown the door few days after Falcon of Jediane’s 5-0 loss to Egypt in Arab World Cup, the former JS Kabylie coach indicated there is no such a thing.
Velud sidestepped a question when asked if he has assurances that he’ll coach in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
“I don’t think that the rumors of my dismissal affected the national team, the players don’t look at the Sudanese press and don’t focus on what the media reports,” Velud said on Tuesday.
“We have started preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations and we have put a draft preparatory program. We are waiting for some confirmations from Sudan Football Federation officials.
“We have a number of injuries in our ranks and we will teach the possibility of bringing a number of players abroad to improve the team’s performance.”
Egypt scored 3 goals in the first stanza before finding the back of the net twice in the remaining half of the game.
Sudan played the better part of the game with two men down after Yasser Muzammil and Faris Abdullah were shown straight red card for separate offences.
Velud said in the post-match press conference that he believed his players “worked hard under difficult circumstances.”
The 61-year-old was appointed as Sudan national team head coach at the beginning of year 2020, replacing Zdravko Logarusic who was let go at the end of his contract in November.
He is well-travelled on the continent having coached several clubs including ES Setif, USM Alger, CS Constantine, TP Mazembe and Etoile du Sahel.
Velud was also in charge of the Togo side between 2009 and 2010.
He achieved the Sudan FA target of guiding the team to 2021 Africa Cup of Nations where they’ll play Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea-Bissau.
