HERVE Renard might have tasted glory a little too late in Zambia’s memorable African Nations Cup triumph to have adorned himself with the title of “The Special One” that has become the copyright of legendary Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho.
But the dynamic, good-looking coach of Chipolopolo yesterday proclaimed himself as “The Chosen One” after guiding Zambia to their storybook triumph in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, becoming the most wanted coach in Africa in the process.
Senegal, who experienced a miserable Afcon tournament after starting out as one of the favourites, have already expressed an interest in the blond, 43-year-old Frenchman – and it is believed a number of other African countries are joining the queue.
Orlando Pirates director of development Augusto Palacios says he has heard of several PSL clubs also viewing the possibility of hiring Renard – and from a monetary point of view he could earn a lot more money in South Africa than in Zambia.
“I do not know the exact details,” added Palacios, “but I would be surprised if Renard has been earning much more than R200000 a month on his second stint with Zambia. Locally, some of the more affluent PSL clubs might offer him as much as R700000 a month.”
However, Renard, on a one-year contract with Zambia, says it would be wrong at this stage to leave the Chipolopolo, with whom he has formed such a strong and historic bond.
And he explained why he looked on himself as “The Chosen One” by the fact that Zambia’s unlikely success in the Afcon, as well as his own return to the team, seemed fated and part of an uncanny pattern as a remembrance to the ill-fated disaster in 1993 when Zambia’s squad perished in a crash off the shores of Gabon.
“Look at it this way,” says the French-born coach and former first league defender, “the plane carrying the players in 1993 was heading for Senegal and we upset them in the first round of this year’s tournament.
“And, of course, it was not far from the scene of the tragedy in Gabon that we made soccer history when Zambia won (the Afcon) for the first time. “There was also something eerie about my return to Chipolopolo,” added Renard.
“After I left them I never thought I would ever go back.”
It was with Zambia that the Frenchman achieved what was up to this year his most notable success as a coach: being in charge of Zambia when they reached the quarterfinals of the Afcon tournament in Angola in 2010.
He left soon afterwards after receiving a more lucrative offer from Angola, but did not last long with the 2010 Nations Cup hosts.
His career generally has been marked by limited success.
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