Herve Renard is expected to leave his Saudi Arabia post as head coach to take over the France women’s national team, according to reports from RMC Sport. The 54-year-old helped the Green Falcons to shock eventual winners Argentina at the FIFA 2022 World Cup and is currently overseeing their games against Venezuela and Bolivia.
According to the reports, Renard wants to be in a position to name his French squad by the end of the month and is already lining up his staff ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. “I can say that Herve is in a good position,” Olympique Lyonnais president and French Soccer Federation executive committee member Jean-Michel Aulas told RMC on the topic of Corinne Diacre’s replacement. “I have him on the phone each day, but things are not settled just yet. The contact with Herve is very positive.”
Renard remains under contract with the Saudi Federation for now but he is expected to be released from his duties to lead his native France after this international break’s friendlies.
The former Morocco, Lille OSC, Ivory Coast, and FC Sochaux Montbeliard boss has established himself as something of an international specialist after his 2012 Africa Cup of nations success with Zambia. Renard followed up that surprise achievement with another AFCON title with the Ivorians and his latest feat was engineering an heroic 2-1 World Cup group stage win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
The news bodes well for Les Bleues after a raft of players stepping back from international duty expedited Diacre’s departure and Renard’s specialist reputation will be a big boost. The French tactician is expected to bring Laurent Bonadei with him with Eric Blahic also in place and Aulas trusts Renard to make up ground lost in recent years.
“We must change our habits,” added Aulas. “We have to do something off the beaten track and give ourselves the means to bring home the World Cup as it is not normal for our women to lag behind our men.” Renard was facing competition from Jocelyn Gourvennec until the latter withdrew citing that he is more interested in everyday management and not the sporadic nature of international coaching.
Despite a number of successes, notably on the African continent, this promises to be the biggest challenge of Renard’s career so far with the French team struggling to tap into their potential to dominate the women’s game in recent years.