Veteran manager Herve Renard insists he has no regrets about taking on the job as Tunisia’s emergency head coach at the FIFA World Cup, despite the North African nation’s catastrophic campaign.
Tunisia were beaten 3-1 by the Netherlands in Kansas City on Thursday, following a heavy 5-1 defeat against Sweden and a 4-0 reverse against Japan to finish dead bottom of Group F. The much-travelled French tactician was hired just last week after Sabri Lamouchi was dismissed following their opening-day loss, but he was ultimately powerless to stop the structural rot.
Speaking after the defeat against the Dutch, the 57-year-old delivered a characteristically frank assessment of Tunisia’s lack of quality on the global stage.
“We were not at the level for this World Cup,” Renard admitted. “This is clear. There is no discussion. It’s a massive tournament with very good teams, especially in this group. It was a very tough group. Now, the Tunisian federation needs to sit down and analyse everything.”
The former Africa Cup of Nations-winning manager said he had “absolutely” no misgivings about accepting the high-stakes role despite the team’s swift collapse.
“I have already spoken to the players and I thanked them,” he said. “It wasn’t easy. We have the feeling that football is easy when you’re a player. But when you’re in this type of psychological situation, it’s not easy to handle the final matches, especially when it’s against a very strong team in an amazing stadium packed with orange. So it was a difficult moment.”
Tunisia had previously romped through African World Cup qualifying unbeaten, without conceding a single goal. However, they crashed out prematurely in the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, and their build-up to this World Cup had been deeply fractured.
Renard, who has managed a host of African national teams throughout his career, remained entirely non-committal over his long-term future with the Carthage Eagles.
“The federation called me for a very short mission,” he noted. “We agreed on that deal, and rather than stay on my couch watching this amazing tournament from far away, I thought, ‘Well, you know, I’ve got nothing to lose’.”
AFP
