Saudi Arabia’s coach, Herve Renard played as a defender for French sides AS Cannes, Stade de Vallauris, and SC Draguignan in a playing career which lasted from 1983 to 1998.

After retiring as a professional player he worked as a cleaner, working there in the morning and training with Draguignan in the evening, eventually starting his own cleaning company.

“I cleaned carpet and other industrial cleaning jobs”, while he was with a cleaning company he got his chance with football when he met a man who was the owner of the building he was cleaning and also a director of a football team.

His job involved taking out bins and cleaning halls ” I woke up at 2:30 am, I finished around noon, I left for training at 5 pm, that was the rhythm for 8years.”

Herve Renard started his own industrial cleaning company “It was a physical job and I’m proud of having done it, In football, as a footballer, it’s an exceptional life, we have a privileged life, we must not forget it”.

While running his company and cleaning halls, Herve Renard completed his coaching badges and not long after he got his first job as an assistant coach and the story as been successful.

About transitioning from footballer to cleaner, before achieving success as a national football manager.”It’s the best schooling I could have had to put my life today into perspective, you’ve to go through some failures, and difficult times but it makes you stronger.”

Herve Renard has won the Africa Cup of Nations with two countries: Zambia in 2012 and the Ivory Coast in 2015 becoming the first coach to win two Africa Cup of Nations with different countries.

In November 2017, he qualified Morocco to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, their first since 1998. Later that month, he signed a new contract, until 2022.

In July 2019 the Moroccan team was eliminated from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, with Renard taking responsibility for the “shock exit”. He resigned a few days later, on 15 July 2019 and Later became manager of Saudi Arabia.