Tunisia boss Renard has ‘no regrets’ despite World Cup flop

KANSAS CITY: Herve Renard said Thursday he had no regrets about taking on the job as Tunisia’s emergency coach at the World Cup despite the North African nation’s catastrophic campaign.

Tunisia were beaten 3-1 by the Netherlands in Kansas City on Thursday, following a 5-1 defeat against Sweden and a 4-0 reverse against Japan to finish bottom of Group F.

Veteran French coach Renard was hired last week after Sabri Lamouchi was fired following their opening loss but he was unable to stop the rot.

Speaking after the defeat against the Dutch, the 57-year-old delivered a frank assessment of Tunisia’s lack of quality.

“We were not at the level for this World Cup,” he said. “This is clear. There is no discussion.

“It’s a big tournament with very good teams, especially in this group. It was a very tough group. And now, the federation of Tunisia needs to sit down and analyse everything.”

The much-travelled Renard said he had “absolutely” no misgivings about accepting his role despite Tunisia’s flop.

“I already spoke to the players, I thanked them,” he said. “It wasn’t easy. We have the feeling that football is easy when you’re a player.

“But when you’re in this type of psychological situation, it’s not easy to tackle the last months, especially when it’s against a very strong team in an amazing stadium, the crowd is packed with orange. So it was a difficult moment.”

Tunisia romped through African World Cup qualifying unbeaten, without conceding a single goal.

But they crashed out in the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year and their build-up to the World Cup was rocky.

Renard, who has managed a number of African teams, was non-committal over his own future.

“The federation called me for a very short mission,” he said. “We agreed on that deal and rather than stay on my couch, watching this amazing event from very far away, I thought, ‘Well, you know, I’ve got nothing to lose’.”