FIFA World Cup 2022: Know about Saudi Arabia’s coach Herve Renard – the man who creates wonders on field

There aren’t many managers who have done some unthinkable wonders on the field and are not recognised worldwide. Here comes a Frenchman named, Herve Renard, currently deployed as Saudi Arabia’s head coach – the team who stunned the world on Tuesday by beating Argentina 2-1 in FIFA World Cup 2022.

So what makes Herve Renard great, or if not great yet, then at least a mastermind who knows how to floor an opposition with super tactics?

Know about Saudi Arabia’s head coach Herve Renard

Herve Renard started his career as a football manager some 23 years back with a lesser-known French club, SC Draguignan. After helping the club gain promotion on three back-to-back occasions, Herve then moved to manage the Cambridge United team, who were a third-division team in English football during that time. Later, he moved to Vietnam, joining Nam Dinh football club only to return to France a few months later to coach the fifth-division side named AS Cherbourg.

Training, nutrition, and ‘shake like dogs...’

However, what stood as a common point everywhere was his tactical planning that included high-pressing football irrespective of the opposition. And for that to be executed well, he required his players to train not only harder but also work on their nutrition as well, something a former Cambridge player John Ruddy also recalled while talking to the Guardian.

“One of the biggest memories I have of Hervé is the work rate not only he demanded of us but also showed himself in the gym. The pre-season under him was and still is the hardest one I have ever done,” Ruddy said.

He further added Herve used to make them shake like dogs.

“Hervé used to have us in the gym doing planks for two minutes and I remember shaking like a dog. All he was doing was laughing and shouting: ‘Come on John!’ He used to do crunches for five-minute sets too and was in exceptional shape himself. It looks like he still is,” Ruddy told the Guardian.

Success at the international level

Although Renard’s resume as a club manager hasn’t been too impressive, the Frenchman has done some incredible stuff on the field with some international teams.

For instance, he is the only coach to have won the African Cup of Nations with two countries – Zambia in 2012 and with Ivory Coast in 2015. Not only this, but Herve Renard also became Africa’s highest-paid manager when after getting appointed as Morocco’s coach.

Massive performance against Argentina in Qatar

Against the mighty Argentineans on Tuesday, Renard’s Saudi Arabia produced a performance of a lifetime. Saudi just didn’t defeat Argentina 2-1, they also made sure their tactics, which were regarded as ‘bold’ by some experts, are talked about worldwide. ForRenard though this is nothing but just a regularity.

The ‘white shirt’ superstition

It’s okay for someone to believe in superstitions as long as their teams are winning. For Herve Renard, he really knows what works for him, and strangely that’s not just tactics, it’s the unbuttoned white he wore during the game against Argentina.

While talking to Espire, he explained how and why he started wearing white shirts during the matches, “We (Zambia) were playing in the second game of the (2010) Africa Cup of Nations against Cameroon,” Renard recalled to Esquire. “I wore a light blue shirt, but we lost 3-2 so in the following game, I wore a white shirt. We won and finished first in the group, in front of Cameroon.”

Herve Renard pulls off a ‘Chak de India’ kind speech to inspire players, watch the video here -

For any team to beat Argentina or say a world number one side for that matter, they need something more than just motivational words. And in Saudi Arabia’s case, Coach Herve Renard did the same. In a video that is going viral on the internet, Herve is seen motivating his players during the half time. The Frenchman is recorded saying, ‘we need to mark Messi in the middle...you can click a photo with him if you want.’

Well, this three-minute video surely did wonders for the team as they came from behind and beat Argentina 2-1 in their FIFA World Cup 2022 opener. This win over the tournament favourites were lauded and rewarded as well.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE -