Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 7y

Morocco coach Herve Renard facing 'emotional' African Cup of Nations

Morocco coach Herve Renard is not relishing the challenge of facing former charges Ivory Coast nor mentor Claude Le Roy at next year's African Cup of Nations.

After guiding Zambia to a shock Nations Cup triumph in 2012, Renard became the first coach to win the African title with two different countries when he led Ivory Coast to the continental trophy in 2015.

After Wednesday's group stage draw for next year's final tournament that pitted his current charges against his former ones, DR Congo and Togo in a testing Group C, Renard acknowledged the difficulty of the task ahead.

"It's a very tough group. If I had to choose teams to avoid before the draw, I would have chosen some of the teams in our group," he said. "This is football and this is how the draw wants it to be. We will have to prepare ourselves very well.

"There will be an important emotional value but we will have to ignore all that because we will face Ivory Coast which is very difficult especially when you have had the chance to know these players, and it is technically the same group. It will be tough but we have to be competitors."

His masterminding of Zambia's win four years ago put Renard on the map as a coach, but his career in the dugout had started a decade earlier alongside Le Roy.

With Renard the junior partner as assistant coach, the pair worked together at Cambridge United and the Ghana national team, and he admitted facing Le Roy, who is now boss of Togo, will be a heart-rending experience.

"The match against Togo will be even harder on me during the 90 minutes but I will have to forget all what this man [Le Roy] has done for me and do everything to win," the former Sochaux and Lille coach said.

"He has given me so much in my life and not just in football, but how to evolve as a man. I think I will need a lot of time to speak just of the good things that Claude has brought to my life but that is not today's topic. Let's concentrate on the tough matches."

The tournament is scheduled to be held from Jan. 14 to Feb. 5 next year.

Group A: Gabon, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau

Group B: Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Zimbabwe

Group C: Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Morocco, Togo

Group D: Ghana, Mali, Egypt, Uganda

^ Back to Top ^