Africa’s excellent scuba diver, Herve Renard finds himself at the helm of affairs of Morocco. Sinking into unfancied territories, Morocco needed a savior – Renard was called upon and he enthusiastically dived in, to embark on a rescue mission. And for Renard, it’s been so far, so good!
Prior to leading the Moroccans, he led an unfancied Zambia and an underachieving Ivory Coast to AFCON glory in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
Apart from leading the Moroccans to qualification in the 2018 FIFA WC, Renard also led the Moroccans to a quarter final place in the previous edition of the AFCON. En route to qualifying for the WC, Morocco didn’t concede any goal……….they may have exited the WC at the group stage but they played amazingly well. The point here is that Morocco’s improvement under the tutelage of Renard has been remarkable.
Shockingly, Morocco didn’t win any match in 2019, prior to their opening game in the AFCON.
Morocco began their quest for AFCON glory with a 1-0 victory over Namibia, kind courtesy of an own goal – alas, the Moroccans found some luck which proved elusive during the 2018 WC! And against Ivory Coast, the Moroccans showed all the stuff that they are made of – defensive solidity, fluid movement, excellent wing play and quick transitions, just to name a few. At the end, the Moroccans run away 1-0 winners. Nordin Amrabat provided the magical dribbles, capped it with a brilliant unlooking pass and El Nesyri did the rest!
The most recent editions of the AFCON have proved to be a successful hunting ground for the minnows but this time, the pendulum could swing in favor of the favorites – and Morocco have proved that we must pay close attention to them.
Will Herve Renard get third time “lucky”? Well, your guess is as good as mine.
Source: EonlineGH.com/ Baiden Gideon
