In Africa they revere him as the “white magician”, now he is to lead France’s women to the world title. Coach Hervé Renard is not only famous for his shirt color.
And suddenly he’s wearing blue shirts. In his new job, Hervé Renard had to break with a tradition he probably grew fond of: For years, the coach had always been seen on the sidelines in a tight-fitting white shirt. It had become his trademark, so to speak.
But now – since March of this year – he has been coaching “les Bleues”, the “Blues” – France’s women’s national team. It goes without saying that the Frenchman likes to break with his traditions for the job in his home country and now wears blue.
triumphs in Africa
But of course these are only superficial things – much more important for the 54-year-old and his new team would be to build on the successes that Renard has repeatedly achieved with his teams in recent years. His greatest triumph: In 2012 he became African champion with Zambia’s men’s team. No one really believed him and the team at the time.
It is still considered one of the biggest sensations in football history in Africa. As the absolute underdog, the East Africans plowed through the tournament back then, inspiring with irresistible attacking football. And in the final they beat the seemingly overwhelming Ivory Coast with Didier Drogba and Co.
“Like a daddy”
Three years later he made the opponent in the final, who was defeated at the time, happy: in 2015 he won the tournament as coach of the same Ivory Coast. “He’s like a dad to me,” said Ivorian striker Wilfried Bony after the tournament.
Yes, like a really authentic dad, Renard actually performed as a coach in Africa. But not like a father who coddles his sons. Renard’s thunderous cabin speeches are legendary. If he recognizes carelessness in his boys’ game, he lets his players hear it in the protected area of the dressing room. And it is so sustainable that the neighborhood in which it is located also benefits.
Renard in his element: white shirt, clear statement.
Authentic, passionate
But it is precisely this passion for football and for your respective team that you totally believe in the former, at best, third-rate footballer. Players can sense when a coach isn’t putting on a show in front of them. If he’s serious. And that’s always been the case with Renard. Also in Saudi Arabia, where he took over the job as national coach in 2019 and caused a sensation again in 2022 at the World Cup in Qatar with a 2-1 victory over eventual world champions Argentina.
Renard’s life reveals various breaks and astonishments that one hardly expects from football tariners from the top shelf. As a young adult, as a member of a youth football academy alongside greats like Didier Deschamps, he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to reach the top as an active player.
Window cleaner and amateur coach
Renard scrapped his original plan to become a professional soccer player and became – a building cleaner. He cleaned windows – at dizzying heights. “I know what it’s like to have to work very hard for little money,” he once explained. He also coached an amateur team in the evenings.
He burst onto the world football stage when legendary French coach Claude LeRoy was looking for an assistant for his new coaching job in Shanghai. He chose Renard, who above all learned from him how to adapt to foreign cultures. Via Vietnam, Cambridge and China, he finally landed in Africa in 2008 when he became head coach of Zambia. The rest is known.
France – Channeling a culture of debate
So now France. And for the first time women’s football. When the French association parted ways with Corinne Diacre early in the year, a quick alternative solution was needed. Approached, Renard terminated his current contract in Saudi Arabia and has been in office since March.
The French players are not considered to be easy to deal with. Very demanding, very massive in their complaints and criticism. Such a profile seems tailor-made for Renard, who is said to have first-class knowledge of human nature. Does he know how to steer the culture of debate in “Les Bleues” in the right direction? We will see.