Two-time AFCON title-winning coach Hervé Renard hailed Cote d’Ivoire as a side of rare quality as he explained his decision to return as the Elephants’ mentor.
The Frenchman pointed to players of the highest calibre, a country buzzing with excitement, strong momentum, and a fine World Cup campaign as the reasons that convinced him to go back into the Elephants’ dugout eleven years later.
Renard, who led the Elephants to a 2015 AFCON title triumph, added that there is still room for improvement, and all those factors together convinced him to accept the challenge of returning to Cote d’Ivoire.
‘I agreed to return to the Elephants’ dugout eleven years on because it’s a great team,’ the 57-year-old told Canal Plus Sport. ‘It’s a team with players of the very highest calibre, a country buzzing with excitement, superb momentum, and a side that had a fine World Cup campaign.
‘There’s still room for improvement. So it’s for all these reasons that I accepted the challenge of returning to Côte d’Ivoire.’
Renard became the first coach to win two Africa Cup of Nations with different countries after his success with Zambia in 2012 and Cote d’Ivoire in 2015 and he will be eyeing his third title with the Elephants.