The sudden and unbelievable victory that saw Saudi Arabia defeat powerhouse football nation Argentina in their group’s FIFA World Cup opener has continued to gather momentum, but it is important to note that the coach who guided the Arab nation to victory had first conquered Africa.

Perhaps no one saw Saudi Arabia as a potential winner of that match, even bookmakers had written them off, but Coach Herve Renard, who master-minded that victory that shocked the World world, first proved his competence on African soil. French-man Herve Renard first guided two African nations to their first ever AFCON titles in 2012 (Zambia) and 2015 (Ivory Coast) respectively, becoming the first ever and only manager to have won the title with two different nations. He also won the CAF Coach of the year for 2015. The 54-year-old who is a former defender put his defensive mentality into play in the match against Argentina, when his side trailed the South Americans by 1-0 after 10 minutes through penalties, which eventually ended in the first half. Renard, who had employed the 4-4-2 formation in the first half, changed to a 3-5-2 formation, which allowed his side to congest the midfield and also win balls to keep his two upfront, consistently breaking into the Argentine’s defense, and it paid off with two goals which has made him a manager to be talked about. In fact, the three points which Saudi Arabia earned in that game looked more like winning the World Cup itself. It also shows that the Frenchman, who was the first non-Saudi Arabia to record the most wins for the Arab nation with 18 wins before the match against Argentina, had extended it to 19 wins. The French-man who guided Saudi Arabia to their first ever win against Argentinawill be looking forward to building on their next match and qualifying Saudi Arabia from the group to the knockout stage.