It is now an open secret with the formalization of his departure from Saudi Arabia. Hervé Renard will be inducted 9th coach in the history of Les Bleues. At the head of the women's France football team, he is preparing to succeed Corinne Diacre, ousted after a sling of several players, and will have the difficult task of leading his team to a first title.

According to AFP and L'Equipe, the choice of the 54-year-old Southerner will be ratified Friday, March 31 at an Executive Committee (Comex) of the FFF dedicated to women's football.

While the names of several prestigious coaches of women's football were buzzing (Gérard Prêcheur, Sonia Bompastor, Sandrine Soubeyrand), the FFF finally made the choice of the flashy, with a charismatic coach although lacking experience with women's teams.

"We have the chance to play the World Cup in five months. The following year there will be the Olympic Games in France and maybe the Women's Euro the year after. This is an extraordinary cycle coming and I think we have to be very, very ambitious. So we have to change habits, think outside the box and give ourselves the means to get this World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, "argued Jean-Michel Aulas, member of the Executive Committee to defend the arrival of Hervé Renard, in a recent interview.

Football globetrotter

As a player, Hervé Renard has never really experienced the top level. This professional defender even played only one match in Ligue 1 (at the time Division 1). When he hung up his boots, he set up a villa cleaning business on the Côte d'Azur and began coaching the modest amateur club of Draguignan where he ended his career.

It is the meeting with Claude Le Roy that will change his destiny. The legendary "white wizard" offers him to become his deputy in China at Guizhou Renhe. Hervé Renard passed his coaching diplomas, made a detour to Vietnam, then joined his mentor again when he settled in Cambridge in English D4. In 2008, Claude Le Roy introduced him to Africa: the duo took Ghana to the third step of the podium at CAN-2008.

It is on this continent that he will carve out his reputation: with Zambia, he writes history. During his first stint (2008-2010), he took them to the quarter-finals. During his second (2011-2013), he helped the southern African country win the first CAN in its history. Three years later, he repeated with Côte d'Ivoire at CAN-2015. He qualified his next team, Morocco, for the 2018 World Cup.

Still, for the moment, Hervé Renard has never been a prophet in his country. His last two spells in France ended in a tailspin: his year at Sochaux (2013-2014) ended with relegation and he was sacked after six months at Lille (2015) with a meagre record of two victories.

A hard worker and a leader

Gaël Mahé, a Fifa agent who knew Hervé Renard when he was Claude Le Roy's assistant with Ghana (2007-2008), describes the coach as "a personality both radiant and charismatic". He sees him as "a lumberjack technician, who has now become the most emblematic French coach posted abroad".

Hervé Renard is also an undisputed leader. His latest feat at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar proved it. While his team, Saudi Arabia, is led 1-0 against Lionel Messi's Argentina, he leads a high-flying talk at half-time.

"Guys, what are we doing here?" Is that dry cleaning? Pressing doesn't mean you have to play high!" he reproaches while taking the 100 steps. Faced with the Messi danger and the wait-and-see attitude of his players, he said: "Take your phones and take pictures with him if you want!"

After the reproach sequence, he remobilizes his team: "With the ball, you were good. Did you see what you did? Don't you feel something?" he asks them. Back on the pitch, his men ended up overthrowing the future world champions, signing the first surprise of the World Cup (2-1).

An experienced assistant to support him

But time is already running out for Hervé Renard: there are only four preparation matches left – against Colombia on April 7, Canada on April 11, Ireland on July 6 and Australia on July 14 – before the Blues enter the World Cup on July 23 in Sydney against Jamaica. Hervé Renard will therefore have to get in tune with a world he knows little.

The 9th coach in the history of Les Bleues could be helped for this mission by a staff more experienced than him in women's football, a valuable asset both in physical preparation and in the study of opponents. Eric Blahic, once mentioned to become a coach, could play this role. The former assistant of Corinne Diacre, who remains appreciated by several players, has returned insistently in the debates of recent days.

If he is appointed, Renard's priority, before the announcement of the list expected at the end of the week for the next two friendly matches, will be to convince the rebels to return to the selection.

Captain Wendie Renard – no relation – and forwards Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani had clearly announced their withdrawal from the Blues, conditioning their return to "profound changes" in the "management". He could also choose to recall Lyon striker Eugenie Le Sommer or PSG goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi, long dismissed by Corinne Diacre.

The "lumberjack" has his work cut out for him.

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