Herve Renard Confirms Resignation As Morocco Boss

By Max Wise

Herve Renard has confirmed his resignation as coach of the Morocco national team with immediate effect.

Renard’s proclamation comes just a few days after the Royal Moroccan Football Federation came out to deny reports that their manager had stepped down from his role.

Morocco were touted as one of the favourites for the recently-concluded 2019 Africa Cup of Nations but the furthest the Atlas Lions could go was the round of 16 stage.

Morocco secured maximum points in a group that contained the likes of Ivory Coast, South Africa and Namibia but were knocked out by minnows Benin at the round of 16 stage on penalties following a 1-1 draw.

Renard, who led Zambia and Ivory Coast to Africa Cup of Nations glories in 2012 and 2015 respectively, had been in charge of Morocco since 2016 and took them to their first World Cup appearance in two decades last year.

"Morocco will always remain for me a country with which I lived incredible emotions," the 50-year-old Frenchman wrote in a statement posted on social media.

“I am proud of what we have achieved and how far we have managed to hoist Moroccan football.

"In addition to our FIFA ranking (47th), we have twice reached the second round of the AFCON, including a quarter final, a performance not achieved since 2004, but also participation in the 2018 World Cup after 20 years of absence for Morocco, first time unforgettable for me.

“Yes, we had all hoped for better for this AFCON 2019 in Egypt, but this is football, it gives birth to the wildest hopes and brings us hard to the reality of an early elimination on penalties!

"It is time for me to close this long and beautiful chapter of my life, not without emotion and sadness, but it is an inevitable decision taken well before AFCON 2019."