Despite having spent almost two decades as a coach, occupying the benches of particularly exotic teams, it was not until the last World Cup in Qatar when the name of Hervé Renard crossed borders and reached the ears of all soccer fans. Saudi Arabia led by the Frenchman gave the first and great surprise of the event in Qatar, beating Argentina led by Leo Messi, ultimately brand new champion.
The victory of the Arabs, the most important in the history of the Asian team, was the high point of the four-year stage of the French coach with 'the sons of the desert', closed this Wednesday by Renard with a message on his Twitter account : "Having been the coach of the Saudi Arabian national team is a great source of pride for me."
"Since August 2019 I had the opportunity to be an integral part of the life of this beautiful country. I have seen this team grow by my side and achieve this fantastic and unforgettable victory against Argentina. Very proud to have been able to show the world the progress and the good image of Saudi football. It is time to fly to another horizon but with these memories engraved in me", continues his message Renard, who reached an agreement with the Federation to terminate his contract.
Everything indicates, according to various media reports, that Renard will go from training in Saudi Arabia, "this beautiful country", to directing the French women's team. The 54-year-old coach will leave behind a territory where women's rights are not respected and will embark on his first experience in women's football in charge of les bleues. In the absence of official confirmation, the Frenchman will occupy the gap left by Corinne Diacre, dismissed after discrepancies with various players.
Renard's first major objective will be to maximize France's performance ahead of the World Cup this summer, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand starting on July 20. The coach will return to Europe and his country after years trotting around the world.
Renard trained the modest AS Cherbourg in his early days in the band, a stage in which he combined his fledgling career as a technician with less lustrous jobs as a garbage collector and building cleaner. He returned to France in 2013 to coach FC Sochaux and Lille in 2015, both times without success, but most of his career has been spent in Africa, where he was continental champion with Zambia (2012) and Ivory Coast (2015). ).
In addition to his journey with the 'elephants' and 'the copper bullets', which he trained in two stages, from the African continent he also led Angola, Algeria and finally Morocco, which he led in Russia to his first final phase of a World Cup after two decades of absence. Finally, came his definitive jump to an ephemeral fame with Saudi Arabia thanks to the historic victory against Argentina.
