The new coach of the French women’s team, who has long been on the benches in Africa, is the only technician in history to have won two African Cups of Nations with two different selections.
White shirt, golden tan, precise brushing… Appointed head of the French women’s team on Thursday March 30, Hervé Renard made an impression with his unique look, but also with his results on the pitch. If he is far from having convinced everywhere he has gone, the 54-year-old technician can boast of displaying a well-stocked list, in particular at the head of selections. Double winner of the African Cup of Nations, he is the only coach in the history of the competition to have achieved this feat with two different teams: Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire. A feat which notably enabled the Savoyard to win the title of coach of the year from the African Football Confederation three times (2012, 2015, 2018). It’s not the only great performance he has landed.
Just months away from the 2023 World Cup – organized from July 20 to August 20, in Australia and New Zealand – the French women’s team really needs calm and serenity after the end of the Corinne Deacon era. A look back at four meetings that have marked the career of coach Hervé Renard.
The biggest coup: Saudi Arabia offers itself the future world champions of Argentina
It is perhaps one of the greatest sensations in the history of the World Cup, not unlike the victory of the American amateurs against England in 1950 (1-0) or the elimination of the Italy against eleven North Koreans unknown to the general public in 1966. Presented as the weak link in his group, Saudi Arabia by Hervé Renard nevertheless offered himself, on November 22, 2022, Lionel Messi’s Argentina to Qatar (2-1), while the South American team was undefeated for 36 games.
A month later, these same Argentinians became world champions for the third time in their history, by dismissing the French team in the final of the competition (3-3, 4-2 tabs). Facing the 51e world nation led by Hervé Renard, the Albiceleste suffered their only defeat of the competition, in their first match against the Saudis.
The revelation: Zambia wins AFCON for the first time in its history
This is the first feat of Hervé Renard’s coaching career. In 2012, the French lead the Zambian selection to the top of Africa. Finalist in 1974 and 1994, Zambia finds, for the third time in its history, the final of the African Cup of Nations. THE Chipolopolos finish first in their group, without the slightest defeat on the clock. Sudan, in the quarter-finals (3-0) then Ghana (1-0), defending finalist and quarter-finalist of the last World Cup, are excluded from the road leading to the last match of the competition.
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At the end of an unbreathable penalty shootout, Zambia defeated Côte d’Ivoire (0-0 aet, 8-7 pens) and gleaned its first title of champion of the African Cup of Nations. The first also in the career of the French coach.
The historic moment: Hervé Renard wins a second CAN with a second selection
Following his coronation with Zambia in 2012, Hervé Renard takes over the reins of Côte d’Ivoire, eliminated in the first round of the 2014 World Cup. The technician comes out of half a season in France , in Sochaux, where he could not avoid the club’s relegation to Ligue 2. In a strong group (Cameroon, Mali, Guinea), the Elephants finished first without having lost a single match, but having conceded two draws, each time by equalizing at the end of the match. Then, two successes (3-1) over Algeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, before challenging Ghana. Barely six months after his appointment, he takes his collective to consecration, again on penalties after a goalless draw between the two nations (0-0 ap, 9-8 pens).
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Eight years after his first steps on the continent (assistant coach of the Ghanaian selection in 2007), Hervé Renard has become a monument of African football: this success makes him the first coach in history to win the African Cup of Nations. with two different selections.
The most significant passage: Morocco, which he brings back to the World Cup 20 years later
Decidedly, fate is teasing. It is once again against his former team, Côte d’Ivoire, that Hervé Renard will succeed in his latest feat of arms on the African continent, in 2017. After having already eliminated his former team in chickens during CAN 2017, he still has to face it in the decisive match for the qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Elephants aim a fourth World Cup in a row after 2006, 2010 and 2014.
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But in face, Morocco, a well-oiled machine, overthrew Ivorian hopes (0-2). Little appreciated by the Moroccan press on his arrival, the technician brought the Atlas Lions back to their first World Cup since 1998, without having conceded the slightest defeat during these playoffs. By spending three seasons with this selection, Hervé Renard completed his longest career stint with a selection.