Chosun Sports = Reporter Park Chan-jun
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[스포츠조선 박찬준 기자]”My priority is the Korea A national team!”
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The coach of the French women’s football team, Herve Renard (56, France), the ‘master’ who captured Lionel Messi (Argentina), has made his interest in Korea official. Coach Renard recently said via Sports Chosun, “I want to participate in the 2026 North and Central America World Cup with the Korea A national team. Thankfully, several teams are showing interest, but my main priority is the Korean national team.” Coach Renard was said to be included in the final 11 candidates recently announced by National Team Strengthening Committee Chairman Jeong Hae-seong. Chairman Chung decided to contact foreign candidates first without face to face.
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Coach Renard, who retired from active duty at the age of 30, immediately transformed himself into a leader and achieved success. He began attracting attention by leading the Zambian national team to victory in the African Cup of Nations in 2012. Coach Renard, who won another African Cup of Nations with Côte d’Ivoire in 2015, was appointed to the Moroccan national team in 2016 and gave a ticket to the Cup of World to Morocco for the first time in 20 years. Morocco were placed in the ‘Group of Death’ along with Spain, Portugal, and Iran at the Russia 2018 World Cup, and were unfortunately eliminated in the group stage, but received praise for their impressive performance.
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Coach Renard, who took over as the head coach of the Saudi Arabian national team in 2019, leaving behind calls of love from many teams, defeated Japan and led the team to advance to the finals of the Qatar World Cup by finishing first in Group B .Coach Renard, who took part in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, caused a major upset by defeating favorites Argentina 2-1 in the first match of the group stage. This was the only loss of the tournament for Argentina, who eventually won thanks to a one-man show from Messi. Unfortunately, they did not progress to the round of 16, but Saudi Arabia received favorable reviews for their incredible performance.
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Coach Renard, who later resigned from his post due to a disagreement with the Saudi Football Association, took over as coach of the French women’s national team. The team went on to the semi-finals of the Australia-New Zealand Women’s World Cup 2023. In particular, with his victory over Brazil in the group stage, he was the first coach to win the men’s and women’s World Cup. Coach Renard, whose contract with the French Football Association expires after the Paris Olympics held in July this year, announced his separation from the French women’s national team at a recent press conference, saying, “I have communicated to the French Football Association my intention to leave after the Olympics.”
The reason was the North and Central America World Cup. Coach Renard said, “I have the 2026 World Cup in the back of my mind. I want to take part in my third World Cup as coach of the men’s national team. This is my personal motivation.” Love calls in for Coach Renard, who would be free. Not only national teams like Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Morocco, and Poland, but also French clubs wanted or wanted to train Renard. Among them, the team that Coach Renard wants the most is the Korean national team. Coach Renard said, “We have been talking to several teams recently. We plan to make a decision soon,” and added, “We have not had any contact with the Korea Football Association yet.”
Coach Renard already has a connection with Korean football. After the Russia 2018 World Cup, the first choice of Korean football to look for a new captain was Coach Renard. Kim Pang-gon, head of the National Team Strengthening Committee at the time, contacted Coach Renard directly, and Coach Renard also wanted to go to Korea. However, the Moroccan government directly tried to capture Renard and failed to achieve its goal. In the end, Chairman Kim put his worries aside and chose coach Paulo Bento after contacting several candidates. Coach Renard said, “I was disappointed that I could not establish a relationship with Korea at the time. I was very impressed by the passion that Chairman Kim showed. Although I was unable to join him, I continued to watch Korean football and that was confirmed. its potential.”
Coach Renard has a wealth of experience. In particular, he showed himself optimized for the national team and achieved great results in various international competitions. Each team at the helm is adept at producing results with flexible tactics suited to the situation. Based on the back four, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, and 4-4-2 can be used in different ways, and not only active football but also defensive football can be used by use counterattacks. In addition, he has the charisma to control the players, as seen in the locker room conversation where he broke out in discord after the first half of the match against Argentina in the Qatar World Cup. He is also fluent in English.
Above all, the salary is not high. Coach Renard’s point of view is that he only needs a goalkeeper coach and a physical coach, not a big department. The biggest variable is that Coach Renard may join after the Paris Olympics. The association announced plans to appoint a coach by May, as the North, Central and American second round qualifiers will be held in June. Regarding this, Coach Renard said, “We can have a conversation with the French Football Association.” Coach Renard said, “If I take charge of the Korean national team, I plan to live in Seoul. I will do anything for the development of Korean football.” He added, “Korea reached the round of 16 in the Qatar World Cup last. “World-class players like Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, and Lee Kang-in “Korea, with its strong team, can advance to the quarter-finals or even the semi-finals of the Cup the North and Central American World. to share that opportunity with them,” he said.
Park Reporter Chan-jun vanbasten@sportschosun.com
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