Tunisia have performed an extraordinary U-turn by reportedly appointing Herve Renard as their new manager, just hours after prematurely announcing the sacking of Sabri Lamouchi following a 5-1 World Cup defeat to Sweden.
Chaos in Tunisian Camp
The Tunisian Football Federation initially released a statement on Monday confirming Lamouchi's dismissal, but later appeared to backtrack. On Instagram, they posted 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."
However, according to beIN Sports, the federation has now turned to former Saudi Arabia manager Herve Renard, who famously led the Middle Eastern side to a victory over Argentina at the 2022 World Cup. The 57-year-old Frenchman was dismissed by Saudi Arabia before this summer's World Cup but brings extensive international experience, having also coached Morocco, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Angola, and the France women's team.
Renard's Credentials
Renard has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice and has managed clubs including Cambridge United, Sochaux, and Lille. He initially served as a coach under Claude Le Roy at Cambridge before briefly taking the managerial role.
Lamouchi, 54, was only appointed in January after Tunisia's last-16 exit at the Africa Cup of Nations. He managed just one victory in charge. After the heavy defeat to Sweden, he said: "It's a difficult loss. It's painful. 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."
Historical Context
Only three managers have ever been sacked during a World Cup: Carlos Alberto Parreira (Saudi Arabia), Cha Bum-kun (South Korea), and Henryk Kasperczak (Tunisia) were all dismissed after two matches at the 1998 tournament.
