Saudi Arabia’s coach Renard confident despite tough draw

Herve Renard

Herve Renard has brought a rare sense of stability to the Saudi Arabia team since taking over in 2019, and the Green Falcons have benefited from the sense of calm brought by the well-travelled Frenchman as they head into another FIFA World Cup tournament.While in the past the entrance to the coach’s dugout for the Saudi national team could have resembled a revolving door, Renard has provided a sense of continuity over the last three years that has often been lacking for one of the continent’s most successful nations.Renard brought a varied and trophy-laden resume to Riyadh when he took over as the long-term replacement for Juan Antonio Pizzi, having served his coaching apprenticeship in a wide range of environments. After spending the early years of his career in clubs as disparate as England’s Cambridge United and Nam Dinh in Vietnam, the former defender took his talents to Africa, winning the African Cup of Nations with Zambia in his second spell as national team coach in 2012.Following a stint in his homeland with Sochaux he returned to international football to lead Ivory Coast to the 2015 African Cup of Nations, in the process becoming the first man to win the title twice with different countries.A short spell with Lille was followed by a three-year shift in Morocco, ending the country’s 20-year wait for a return to the FIFA World Cup when he qualified them for Russia 2018. However, their involvement in the tournament ended with elimination at the conclusion of the group phase. Renard left Morocco the following year, taking responsibility for a surprise exit at the hands of Benin in the Round of 16 at the 2019 African Cup of Nations, and he ended up joining Saudi Arabia. He has impressed since, bringing organisation and structure to a talented group that needed to be reinvigorated after the disappointments of the exiting the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 in the group phase and going out of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 in the Round of 16.Under Renard, Saudi Arabia impressed in qualifying, seeing off Japan and Australia to top Group B in the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar, with his performance prompting the federation to hand him a contract extension through to 2027, which he signed in May.“We were drawn in a difficult group, but we have big confidence,” Renard told AFP ahead of Group C meetings with Argentina, Poland and Mexico. “Our players are used to big challenges and many of them regularly play with their clubs in the AFC Champions League which is a top-level competition. “Al Hilal won the AFC Champions League twice in the last three years and this shows the quality of the players, and we have other special players as well. All what we need to do is to be on top of our collective level on November 22 against Argentina.”“We had a meeting with the crown prince, and he stressed that there is no pressure, and we should only show the beautiful image of Saudi football. This reflects reality and it is something perfect. This doesn’t mean that we will go easy with our task, but we will work to achieve something wonderful.”