Herve Renard, Morocco part ways

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Jul 22, 2019. 12:15

Herve Renard has stepped down as Morocco head coach following the completion of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Morocco’s hopes of winning the tournament were dashed by a shock penalty shootout at the hands of Benin in the last 16.

Renard, who won the AFCON with Zambia in 2012 and Ivory Coast in 2015, had been in charge of the Atlas Lions since February 2016.

“It is time for me to close this long and beautiful chapter of my life,” said the Frenchman, 50.

In a statement on social media, Renard said he was “not without some emotion and sadness”, adding: “It is an inevitable decision taken well before Afcon 2019.

“I took this decision after having – of course – carefully considered [it]. It is therefore irreversible.”

Renard took Morocco to two AFCONs and most notably the 2018 World Cup – their first appearance at the global event for two decades.

Renard admitted that Morocco’s early exit from AFCON came as a surprise.

“We had all hoped [for] better for the Afcon 2019 in Egypt. But this is football – it gives birth to the wildest hopes (after three wins in the first round [for the] first time in Afcon final tournament for Morocco), and brings us hard to the reality of a too-quick elimination on penalties!”