To qualify Morocco for its first World Cup in 20 years, Hervé Renard was able to rely on a highly competent technical staff in whom he had full confidence.
Patrice Beaumelle, the faithful assistant
He has been accompanying the current coach everywhere for over a decade, except at Sochaux during the 2013/2014 season. The two men met in 2006 during a match between Cherbourg and Nîmes, where Renard was coaching the former and Beaumelle was assistant to Régis Brouard at the latter. They then got to know each other during a joint training session at the French Football Federation (FFF). When Renard was appointed coach of Zambia in May 2008, he immediately called Beaumelle to join him, who did not hesitate to join his new friend. Together, the Savoyard and the Gardois wrote some of the finest pages of African football, with two African Cup of Nations (CAN) titles in 2012 and 2015, and on November 11th, the qualification of Morocco for the 2018 World Cup. "He is the best assistant coach in France," Renard does not hesitate to say about his teammate.
Mustapha Hadji, the local lieutenant
As with every time he sets foot in a new country, Renard brings in a local technician. "To be able to understand and adapt to local subtleties," he explains. Upon his arrival in Morocco in February 2016, he decides to extend Mustapha Hadji's role as assistant, after Hadji had already held the same position under Badou Zaki. It must be said that the 1998 African Footballer of the Year has built a strong relationship with the national team players and leaders, who simply call him "Mouss". He is also very close to the current president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), Fouzi Lekjaâ, who supported him in October 2015 after a disagreement with Zaki during halftime of a friendly match against Guinea, because Hadji had taken the initiative to excuse captain Medhi Benatia from joining the national team (the central defender with 49 caps wanted to secure his place at Bayern Munich, where he had signed a few months earlier).
David Ducci, the jack of all trades
Another of Renard's loyal followers, known by the French coach since their common years as players in the under-17 national team and then at Vallauris (1993-1995) in the French third division championship. He followed Renard to USM Alger, where he was part of the general management (in 2011), then to Ivory Coast, serving as a video analyst. At the same time, he assisted the goalkeeping coach, Gilles Morisseau, having himself played as a goalkeeper during his career. He is Renard's jack of all trades, who had insisted that Lekjaâ bring him along to Morocco. Ducci has also been an executive at Rouen, Sion, Amiens, and Niort, after obtaining a sports management degree in Nice.
Cédric Tafforeau, the video expert
In France, football enthusiasts already know him well: he is a regular on the show Data Room on Canal+, which uses technology to analyze games and teams. He currently fulfills this role with Renard. "The bulk of my work concerns analyzing the opponent. The basis is to break down their movements: how the team defends, moves, and tries to recover the ball at what height. How an intercepted pass can hinder their restart," he explained to sofoot.com in January last year, on the eve of the CAN. Tafforeau was even one of the first specialists in this area in French football, having been employed by Marseille and Bordeaux since 2003. He is also a big fan of Renard. "I think that if he were given a European team with the right players tomorrow, he would have the ability to win titles easily. He has the ability, without a doubt. I say this from experience, after having worked with a multitude of coaches," he said on sofoot.com.
Philippe Sence, the guardian angel
The other Nîmes native on the staff, along with Beaumelle (he played for three years in Nîmes). When Renard arrived, he wanted a new goalkeeper coach, apparently not convinced by the then-current holder of the position, Khalid Fouhami. The national technical director, Nasser Larguet, then proposed Philippe Sence, whom he had recruited a year earlier for the youth teams. Since then, he has apparently been very satisfied with him, to the point of adopting him like any of his previous lieutenants. Sence is notably behind the impressive performance of Munir Mohand Mohamedi, who did not concede a single goal during the qualifiers. Before coming to Morocco, he had been working for almost 20 years in France, with Bordeaux, Le Havre, Strasbourg, and Grenoble.
Nasser Larguet, the behind-the-scenes worker
It is impossible to talk about Renard's success without mentioning the behind-the-scenes work of Nasser Larguet. Having returned home after several years in France, the national technical director has transformed Moroccan football, both at the head of the Mohammed VI Academy and with the various national teams. Morocco's qualification for the World Cup is partly and especially thanks to him. He maintains excellent relations with Renard since their common years in Cannes in the 1980s and are in contact practically every day, according to sources very close to the national technical staff. With Lekjaâ, he is undoubtedly the D'Artagnan of our football.
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