By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Few coaches have the honour of guiding a team at a soccer World Cup. Herve Renard will do it twice in a year.
The much-travelled manager is set to steer the French women’s team in the tournament co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand less than eight months after being in charge of Saudi Arabia at the men’s World Cup in Qatar.
Renard’s global profile soared when the Saudi Arabians pulled off the unthinkable, a comeback 2-1 win over eventual champions Argentina in their Qatar opener.
The French soccer federation will hope he can pull off another miracle by turning a squad that revolted against his predecessor, Corinne Diacre, into world champions at short order.
He has had barely three months in the role but the results have been positive, with a recent 3-0 win over Ireland in Dublin following victories over Colombia and Olympic champions Canada.
With 10 days before France’s opening match against Jamaica, Renard has little time to look back but says his team have been “perfect” with their work ethic and attitude.
“To be honest with you, when I first came I didn’t ask a lot of questions because it was not under my responsibility,” he told reporters in Melbourne on the eve of France’s World Cup warmup against Australia on Thursday.
“It’s always easy to judge from outside. But the most important is to start together on the right way.
“All the coaches they have a different philosophy on the field, outside of the field. My philosophy is clear – it’s we can’t win anything without a very good team spirit.”
Diacre’s final years in charge of Les Bleues were tumultuous, with senior players frozen out and others complaining publicly about her management style.
After an internal review by the French federation found an “irreversible” breakdown with the players, Diacre was sacked five months out from the World Cup.
The new manager has made overtures to some of the players who fell out of favour with Diacre.
Captain and stalwart defender Wendie Renard, who quit Diacre’s squad citing her mental health, has returned, along with top goal-scorer Eugenie Le Sommer.
Herve Renard’s contract lasts until 2024 but might wrap up quicker if France fail to live up to their quality with a deep run at the World Cup.
For all the nation’s talent and footballing pedigree, the women’s national team has never made the final of a major championship.
However, 54-year-old Renard has a track record of success from rapid repair jobs.
A few months after starting his second stint as Zambia coach, he guided them to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations title.
He pulled off the same trick with Ivory Coast at the 2015 tournament, becoming the first coach to take two different nations to the title.
The Argentina upset in Qatar was another career highlight, even if Saudi Arabia were subsequently bundled out of the tournament before the knockout phase.
Video of his pre-match and half-time addresses to fire up his team against the South Americans drew millions of views online.
Fans may have a glimpse of France’s team spirit in the warmup against Australia at a sold-out Docklands stadium.
Midfielder Grace Geyoro backed up her coach’s words about good relations between players and staff.
“Today we have a group like a second family and that is very important because we hope to spend more than 40 days together,” she told reporters.
“So this is something that we need to go further in the competition.”
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Robert Birsel)
