adminshock success in Libreville last February and remains in charge having turned down more lucrative offers from China and the Middle East. Sami Trabelsi of Tunisia is the other coach coming back with the same team and will hope for a better outcome after the Carthage Eagles made a last-eight exit in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea a year ago.
German Gernot Rohr did not have his contract with 2012 co-hosts Gabon renewed after losing in the quarter-finals, but he took over Niger and guided the Mena (Gazelles) to the African football showpiece.
Among the coaches who have fallen by the wayside during the past year is Francois Zahoui of Ivory Coast, whose team did not lose a game nor concede a goal, but a shoot-out loss to Zambia in the final cost him his job.
The coaching line-up in South Africa includes eight European coaches, seven Africans and a South American — a far cry from some previous tournaments when foreign-born handlers dominated.
Renard and compatriot Claude le Roy have coached Cup of Nations winners and Kwesi Appiah and Stephen Keshi are hoping to complete “doubles” as they played in tournament-winning teams. Le Roy steered Cameroon to glory in 1988, six years after Appiah helped Ghana win the title in Libya, and six years before Keshi captained Nigeria to victory in Tunisia.
Renard, who will continue to wear the same long-sleeve white shirt and denim jeans on match days after the superstition-induced routine brought him luck last year, says he has a “dream” job with no interference. — AFP.
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