Hervé Renard marries Viviane Deye, widow of Bruno Metsu, in 2019

Hervé Renard married Viviane Deye in the summer of 2019, after growing close to her in Senegal. Viviane Deye is the widow of Bruno Metsu, the former national team coach who died in 2013 from cancer, for whom Renard held deep respect.

This marriage reflects a strong and lasting bond between the Savoyard coach and the African continent. A native of Aix-les-Bains, Renard successively managed Zambia, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire and Morocco before taking charge of Saudi Arabia. “In Africa I feel free, I don’t think I can end my life anywhere other than on this continent,” he had told Hola Maroc when taking over the Lions of the Atlas, whom he had qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Father of four children — three daughters and one son — born from previous relationships, Renard paid tribute to Bruno Metsu after being named CAF Coach of the Year in 2018: “For 10 years, the African continent has given me so much and I am very grateful to it. I dedicate this trophy to Bruno Metsu.”

Today, it is as Tunisia’s national team coach that Renard is preparing to play in his third World Cup. Sacked by Saudi Arabia in spring, he was urgently called by the Tunisian federation to replace Sabri Lamouchi, who was dropped after just one match in the competition — a heavy 5-1 defeat to Sweden. Tunisia thus becomes his fifth African national team.