A little more than two months after his departure from the French women’s football team and an elimination in the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Hervé Renard, 56, returns to Saudi Arabia, where he finds himself at the head of the male selection. Objective for the double winner of the African Cup of Nations (in 2012 with Zambia and in 2015 with Ivory Coast): qualify the Green Falcons for the 2026 World Cup.
This is the second time in your career that you have returned to a country where you have already coached, after Zambia in 2011. What pushed you to accept this return to Saudi Arabia?
As in Zambia, where I returned a little over a year and a half after leaving, the emotional dimension counted a lot with Saudi Arabia. I will work with managers that I like, with players that I know very well, in a country where football is a very popular sport and which is constantly improving its structures. I continued to follow the championship matches and those of the selection. Maybe it was a sign! There is also a great challenge to take on with this qualification for the World Cup to be won.
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The situation is complicated since we have five points after four days, with six games remaining. Complicated, but not hopeless. It’s an exciting challenge. If we succeed, I will continue, with my sights set on the Asian Nations Cup that the kingdom will organize in 2027. Otherwise, we will say goodbye.
You are not afraid of damaging your image of a man who chases sporting challenges more than good contracts by returning to Saudi Arabia?
Money has never been my driving force when making decisions. When I leave Saudi Arabia in 2023, I agree to divide my salary by twenty, since I earned 23,000 euros net in France. Do the math… I have already refused big contracts in China or Qatar in the past. If I had, for example, signed in Senegal, I would certainly have earned more than in France.
But the question of my salary was not the most important in the discussions. What guides me is passion, human relationships, fervor. Today, I have the chance to be freer in my choices. I’m a sensitive person and I need that.
Before your signing in Saudi Arabia, your name had also circulated in Nigeria and more recently in Senegal…
Nigeria made me a very good offer, but I declined it for sporting reasons. As I have stated several times, my goal is to play in the next World Cup. However, Nigeria only has three points after four matches, with a trip to South Africa. So I preferred to refuse because I honestly didn’t feel capable of taking on this challenge.
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And with Senegal, who separated at the beginning of October from its coach, Aliou Cissé? Your ties with this country are close, since you own a house there and are married to a Senegalese…
There were discussions. I had one wish, to have Omar Daf, a former Senegalese international, as my assistant. But Omar is the coach of Amiens, in Ligue 2. And this condition was not immediately possible to fulfill. I therefore decided at this precise moment to withdraw my application. For the moment, Senegal has not yet chosen [Pape Thiaw, l’ancien adjoint d’Aliou Cissé, assure l’intérim]. Coaching Senegal, one of the best African teams, would have been a great challenge, it’s true, but all the conditions were not met.
Your name was also circulated in Cameroon in April…
[Il coupe] While I was under contract with the French Football Federation (FFF). What annoyed me was that people said I was asking for a lot of money [la fédération camerounaise avait adressé une liste de noms au ministère des sports, où figurait celui de Renard, avec ses supposées prétentions salariales]. It was said that I asked for 200,000 euros per month!
However, this was completely false since there had been no financial discussion with Samuel Eto’o [le président de la fédération] whom I had met in France. There are people who find it convenient to make people believe that I am expensive. I didn’t like this way of proceeding. It’s not honest.
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At the start of the year, there was talk of your return to Ivory Coast, during the African Cup of Nations (CAN), after the departure of Jean-Louis Gasset at the end of the first round. Do you have any regrets?
No and I am happy with the outcome for Ivory Coast, which became African champion. But what is somewhat unfortunate is that the question of my possible arrival had been publicized, whereas it should never have been. People have spoken and, in this type of negotiation, that is not very appropriate.
Do you hope to one day work in Africa again?
Why not ? To try to win a third CAN. It’s a fantastic continent, a real football land. I could have come back to it, but that didn’t happen. But who knows what might happen in the future? I admit that I have a certain preference for the job of coach, which consists of representing a country, with all the passion that that engenders. I had the chance to work in countries where the selection represents a lot, and winning a CAN, qualifying for a World Cup, that provides very strong sensations. And I had the chance to experience them in Zambia, Ivory Coast and Morocco.
