Former Morocco coach now at the head of Les Bleues, Hervé Renard has “wonderful memories” but wants to qualify France for the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Tuesday, because “even when we play a small game with friends, we do it to win it. “, he said Monday.
Hervé Renard: “We had prepared for this eventuality. Now we have to obtain this qualification on the ground. About me, I have wonderful memories of my time in Morocco (as coach of the men’s team, editor’s note). But on to football. Even when we play a game with friends, we do it to win it. We are here to qualify. The important thing is to respect the opponent, to respect a round of 16. The Moroccan team is not there by chance. Tomorrow is a match of the caliber of the one we played against Brazil.
Kenza Dali (middle of France): “There is a great dynamic in the group. It is important in a competition. Personally, I take match after match. It’s important to play every game as if it were the last, but to make sure it’s not. Different things are happening at this World Cup. It’s up to us not to fall into the trap of thinking that our course is easier than another.
Renard: “We respect this team but we focus on ourselves. There is a lot of experience in this France team. I’m there to guide them as best I can, but I feel like they would be guiding themselves just fine if I wasn’t there. There is a strength that emerges, a maturity in this team with players who have a lot of character, some of whom have huge records and know these matches by heart. It is a great pleasure for me to direct them. There is a great serenity in this team.
Renard, on the fact that two French coaches are facing each other in the World Cup (Reynald Pedros and him): “The training of French coaches is very good. We are lucky to be well trained. Some manage to export, there are not enough of them. It’s a bit of a downside. With world football that is changing enormously, we will have to export a little more. This is a message for French coaches. You just have to have a desire to discover, to adapt to all the parameters of a new country. Afterwards, we can live wonderful adventures. There will only be one Frenchman left for the quarter-finals, I hope it will be me.
