Hervé Renard and Zidane associates

Coach of the French women’s team, Hervé Renard had a modest career as a footballer, but he can boast of having rubbed shoulders with Zinédine Zidane at AS Cannes 35 years ago.

Before becoming a successful coach, being the very first coach to win two African Cups of Nations with different countries (Zambia in 2012 and Côte d’Ivoire in 2015), Hervé Renard was a modest footballer. The Savoyard was trained at AS Cannes before playing in D3 with Vallauris then in the amateur championships with Draguignan. He rocked at the age of 30 in his career as a technician.

The current coach of the French women’s team, however, crossed paths with a certain Zinédine Zidane, when the latter landed at the Cannes training center at the age of 16. ” Technically he was the same player, he certainly had to work physically, but the talent, I think he was born with this talent “, he remembers in Telefoot in 2017, before having fun: “ I played with him, but he doesn’t remember! »

Zidane launched at the age of 16

Hervé Renard is too modest. If he obviously did not become friends with the tricolor football legend, he certainly rubbed shoulders with the young attacking midfielder, who was three years younger. Renard was a young central defender for AS Cannes when “Zizou” arrived on the Côte d’Azur, after being spotted in the north of Marseille (he was then playing in Septèmes-les-Vallons). Renard thus remembers a match with Zidane in the Gambardella Cup.

Renard played his only D1 meeting in March 89, established by Jean Fernandez, for a match against Racing led by Vincent Guérin and David Ginola. Two months later, the Dragons coach launched a young unknown named Zidane, only 16 years old, bringing him into play during a meeting against FC Nantes, where Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps were already playing. What stories!