LUCKY CHARM? Saudi coach Herve Renard's wife was married to Senegal manager when they beat France in 2002
DOHA, QATAR: The man who guided the Saudi Arabia national soccer team to a stunning victory over Argentina in the 2022 World Cup is married to a glamorous woman who was previously married to Senegal's manager when he led his team to a first-round victory against France in the 2002 World Cup.
Saudi manager Herve Renard, 54, is married to Viviane Dièye, the widow of former Senegal national coach Bruno Metsu who died from cancer in 2013. About two decades before Renard caused a global sensation with his team's victory against favorites Argentina, Dièye's former husband Metsu guided Senegal to a first-round victory over then-world champions France. Renard and Dièye fell in love after Metsu's passing when the former was managing the Moroccan team. The pair became an item and had three children together.
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Remarkably, Herve Renard, who coached Saudi Arabia to today's upset, is currently in a relationship with Viviane Dieye, the widow of Bruno Metso, who coached that Senegal team. pic.twitter.com/mTGBoP0L95
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) November 22, 2022
According to the Daily Mail, Renard has three children, namely Candice, Kevin, and Audrey. Candice is a high-profile socialite in France and has reportedly appeared in a number of reality TV shows. The 25-year-old was the victim of a vicious assault during her father's tenure as Morocco manager when she was attacked after a match in the Ivory Coast. Renard was heartbroken after the incident, which took place when Candice was waiting to meet him outside the team dressing room and became caught in a melee involving angry local fans. She was inadvertently assaulted by security guards with batons and had to be stretchered away from the scene. Renard later said, "I don't know how people can behave like that towards my daughter."
KOH-LANTA ANNULÉ : La victime de l'agression sexuelle présumée est Candice Renard, la fille de l’entraîneur de foot Hervé Renard (Le Parisien). pic.twitter.com/RQ9KU5nHAA
— Infos Françaises (@InfosFrancaises) May 12, 2018
Dièye, who hails from Senegal, met her first husband Metsu in Italy and he converted to Islam as their relationship progressed. She went into business in Morocco while living there when Renard was managing the national team, and now owns and runs a sports store in a Casablanca shopping center. She had three children with Metsu - Enzo, Noah, and Maeva, and is also a stepmother to a fourth, Remy, from a previous relationship of Metsu's. Following his tragic demise, she told a Gulf publication "how she could proudly say that she spent a wonderful decade by his side."
Vi ricordiamo che questa settimana siamo in pausa e non usciamo
— Tunnel (@TunnelPodcast) February 9, 2022
Per farci perdonare, vi regaliamo del gossip
Viviane Dièye, vedova del grande Bruno Metsu, pare sia l'attuale compagna di Herve Renard. Anche lei ama i cacciatori di contratto come noi. Ok, non proprio come noi... pic.twitter.com/hS8dHtc05T
Renard, who hails from France, is known for wearing his lucky white shirt at important games. His tryst with soccer began as a player in the lower of the French leagues and he retired in 1998 after sustaining a career-ending knee injury. Renard subsequently began coaching low-league side SC Draguignan and later started his own industrial cleaning company. However, his love of soccer never left him, and after brief spells as a coach in China and Vietnam, he was appointed manager of Cambridge United in the UK in 2004.
However, he lost his job after a couple of months when Cambridge was relegated from the football league. He reportedly won only four of his 26 games in charge. Renard's career took an uptick in 2010 after stints working for different national teams across Asia and Africa. He guided Zambia and the Ivory Coast to victory in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 and 2015. In 2019, he signed a deal to coach the Saudi national team after he was sacked as the Moroccan team's coach despite leading them to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.