By Kwame Bediako
Hervé Renard has committed to continuing as head coach of Saudi Arabia’s national team, quashing weeks of feverish talk about a switch to Ghana’s Black Stars bench.
The 55-year-old Frenchman, despite Saudi media storms after a 2-1 friendly loss to Serbia, sealed a new deal with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) this week.
High-stakes talks with SAFF leaders, as reported by L’Équipe, underscored Renard’s tight bond with the federation’s top brass. Though Ghana viewed him as their prime target, leveraging his past stint as assistant there, Renard chose loyalty to the Green Falcons. “My focus remains here; we’ve got unfinished business,” he told local press post-agreement.
Ghana’s football association (GFA) now scrambles for a replacement after sacking Otto Addo, whose brief second spell crumbled amid dismal results like a 4-0 thrashing by Egypt and a 2-1 Germany defeat, just 72 days from World Cup kickoff.
The Black Stars’ woes deepened with a shocking miss of the 2025 AFCON, their first absence in over two decades after a winless group flop as four-time champs. Slotted 74th globally, they face a brutal World Cup Group L against England, Croatia, and Panama.
Renard’s African pedigree, two AFCON triumphs with Zambia (2012) and Ivory Coast (2015), plus his 2008 role under Claude Le Roy in Ghana, had fans dreaming of a triumphant return. His decision leaves Accra hunting anew for a savior.
