Herve Renard is reportedly poised to be named as the new manager of the Tunisian national team, despite the side removing their post that announced they had dismissed Sabri Lamouchi. Tunisia have been widely reported to have severed ties with Lamouchi following a catastrophic 5-1 thrashing by Sweden in their opening World Cup fixture.
The nation are now understood to be turning to former Saudi Arabia manager Renard, who helped orchestrate the Middle Eastern side’s memorable victory over Argentina at the 2022 World Cup, according to beIN Sports. However, it remains unclear when the Tunisian Football Federation will officially confirm their decisions. On Monday, they published a statement regarding ex-Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City manager Lamouchi’s exit before seemingly reversing course.
On Instagram, they said in Arabic: “An agreement has been officially reached to dismiss coach Sabri Lamouchi. Plans are underway to appoint Mondher Kebaier as the national team coach (on an interim basis) to complete the World Cup qualifying matches.”
Formal arrangements over the departure seemingly were not finalised, but plans appear to have shifted with Renard reportedly being targeted to assume control of Tunisia. The 57-year-old Frenchman possesses considerable experience in international football.
Renard was dismissed by Saudi Arabia prior to this summer’s World Cup but has managed the team on two occasions, in addition to stints with France women, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Zambia and Angola. He has claimed the Africa Cup of Nations on two occasions.
The experienced coach has also had stints at Cambridge United, Sochaux and Lille. Renard initially served at Cambridge under Claude Le Roy as a coach before stepping up to the managerial role for a brief period.
Lamouchi, 54, was only appointed as Tunisia manager in January following the side’s last-16 exit at the Africa Cup of Nations. Since taking charge, he has managed just a single victory with the national team.
“It’s a difficult loss. It’s painful,” Lamouchi said after the defeat to Sweden. “Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult.
“With world-class players that we have in the two Swedish forwards (Gyokeres and Isak), it’s something that you don’t recover from. We made way too many mistakes. We have our pride. We need to react. We need to give a better image.”
Only three managers have ever been dismissed during a World Cup. Carlos Alberto Parreira from Saudi Arabia, Cha Bum-kun from South Korea and Henryk Kasperczak from Tunisia were all relieved of their duties after just two matches at the 1998 World Cup.