Herve Renard, on Wednesday, November 23, did the unthinkable, leading Saudi Arabia, a team ranked 51st in the world to beat Argentina 2-1 in Group C of the 2022 FIFA world cup. Well, for those who have been following African football for at least the past one and a half decades, the exploits of the Frenchman are not anything new. He has been progressing year after year since deciding to carte his own coaching path after accompanying his boss Claude Le Roy to Ghana where he served as assistant and the Black Stars physical trainer in 2008. Born in the French city of Aix-les-Bains on September 30, 1964, Renard played for three lower tier clubs in his home country as a defender before hanging his boots in 1998 to pursue coaching. Starting from the French lower leagues, he was moved to Ghana when Claude Le Roy took over the Black Stars. He worked as his physical trainer and one of his two assistants during the AFCON 2008. After Le Roy was fired by Ghana for failing to win the 2008 AFCON, Renard took his own route and it has been a major success for him. He first handled Zambia in the latter part of 2008 and then Angola where he reached the second round with them when they hosted the 2010 AFCON. He returned to Zambia in 2011 after an unsuccessful spell with USM Algiers. His second return to Zambia ranks as the best part of the country's football history. He led them to win the 2012 AFCON in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea where they beat Cote D'Ivoire on penalties in the finals. Three years later, he led the Ivorians to beat Ghana 9-8 on penalties for them to lift their second ever AFCON trophy. Renard wrote his letters in gold as he became one of the few foreign coaches to win the AFCON and also the only one to do it with two different countries. He moved back to his native France where he took over Ligue 1 outfit Lille for just one season. After his contract with Lille ended, he was appointed as coach of Morocco in 2016 and led them to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Swooped away by Saudi Arabia in 2019 After three years in charge of the Atlas Lions, Renard was swooped away by Saudi Arabia in 2019 and that is where he has remained since them. When he took over the Saudi Arabian national team, they were in tatters. They had suffered humiliation in the 2018 World Cup in which they were walloped 5-0 by host nation Russia in the opening game. They failed to qualify to the next round from the Group. Within just three years of taking over Saudi Arabia, Renard was able to build a winsome team which has now defeated one of the best teams in the World. The 2-1 win over Argentina at the Lusail Stadium in the North of Doha on Wednesday was no fluke. Every one can attest to the handiwork of the French trainer. Just like a wily man, Renard was quick to sway attention and pressure from his team as he maintains the win over Argentina was out of the blue. All the stars in the sky were aligned for us, but don't forget Argentina are still a fantastic team. This is football, sometimes totally crazy things can happen. Renard stated in the post match presser. Sometimes the opposition does not have the best motivation. It's normal; it also happened to us when playing lower teams. Some people don't understand, but you can imagine that when you're playing against Saudi Arabia, the motivation is not the same as playing against Brazil. The Saudis face Poland on Saturday, November 26, and a win for them will effectively hand them a second round ticket even before their last game with Mexico. Saudi Arabia's best performance in the history of the World Cup was in USA in 1994 where they reached the round of 16. With Renard in command, they can surpass their 1994 record.
