Morocco: Hervé Renard's regrets with the Atlas Lions | OneFootball

Hervé Renard reveals he should never have left Morocco

Morocco: Hervé Renard's regrets with the Atlas Lions

In a recent media appearance, Hervé Renard made no secret of his deep affection for Morocco. He managed the Atlas Lions from 2016 to 2019.

Speaking to Colinterview, Hervé Renard admitted that he should have stayed on as Morocco's head coach. To recall, he signed in 2016 and left in 2019, even though his contract ran until 2022. "I'll put it differently. I should never have left (...) I won't say more, but that's one of the mistakes you can make in your career. And when you see what happened next, well, it was a mistake." declared the French coach.

Since then, Renard has remained deeply connected to the Kingdom. "A part of my heart is still there, I'm not afraid to say it. Every time I go to Morocco or meet a Moroccan anywhere in the world, they tell me the same thing, and it touches me deeply. I met Fouzi Lekjaa (the Federation's president), who had only been in the role for a year and a half when I arrived, and who has transformed this country to bring it almost to the very top of world football. They're now 8th in the FIFA rankings." he added.

Finally, he concluded: "I was there in Doha. The Moroccan fans are exceptional. We played the World Cup in Russia with 40,000 spectators against Portugal, but 40,000 Moroccans from all over the world. You also saw the passion at the AFCON. It's a crowd of true football lovers. Morocco has this overwhelming passion for football—sometimes positive, sometimes negative—but it's an exceptional country."