As the 2023 African Cup of Nations began on Saturday in Ivory Coast, an episode featuring Didier Drogba and a certain Hervé Renard resurfaced.
The thirty-fourth edition of the African Cup of Nations began on Saturday. Host of the competition, Ivory Coast opened the ball in its Olympic stadium Alassane Ouattara (Abidjan), with a clear victory against Guinea-Bissau (2-0). Consultant for a television channel, Hervé Renard was present to attend the meeting. The opportunity for the media that uses it to go back fourteen years, to February 12, 2012 exactly. That day, the CAN final pitted Zambia, led by the coach with the famous white shirt, against Ivory Coast. A match that went down in history, and in more than one way.
Firstly because Zambia, ultimately victorious on penalties (0-0, 8-7 on the tab) Elephants Ivorians, then won their very first continental title. Then, because during the match, Hervé Renard did not hesitate to throw a memorable shout in the middle of the match against the central referee (the Senegalese Badara Diatta), whom he had called cowardly for a very particular reason. And it is this sequence that bein Sports came out of the drawer.
” You are scared ! »
In this audio, we hear the Zambia coach taking the official to task by yelling at him, all in connection with a certain Didier Drogba, starter on the Ivorian side. “ You never whistled for him. You are scared ! You are scared ! He doesn’t call a foul! He never whistles! » Annoyed that the referee seemed to protect Didier Drogba, Hervé Renard had done what he thought he had to do to shake Mr. Diatta. More than a decade later, the man who is now coach of the French women’s team remembered the episode.
He also played fair: “ I was speaking mainly for Didier Drogba, but I was talking to the referee because he was afraid of him, we shouldn’t touch him, there was a foul every time we approached. This is the respect that we can, perhaps, sometimes have for the very, very great players, but no matter who was in our way, there was only one cup at the end of this match , and sometimes you have to… It’s not always the best image you give, but sometimes you also have to put a little pressure because it’s part of the game. »
