Le Roy, Renard face to face as Togo, Morocco clash
Herve Renard will come face to face with his mentor and the man who introduced him to African football, Claude Le Roy, as his Morocco side and Togo clash in the second Group C game at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon.
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It was Le Roy, nicknamed the white wizard in African football who gave Herve his first chance with an African national team when he brought him to the Ghana job during the 2008 AFCON after which they went their separate ways.
While Le Roy may have the experience, Herve has also succeeded in carving a niche for himself, and within a spate of three competitions, won two AFCON titles with two different countries and will be out to prove to his mentor just how well he has learnt from him.
Today, the stakes will be higher as the two Frenchmen try to save the campaign of their teams by claiming their first wins.
Dubbed as the 'Man with the midas touch' Herve is under pressure to deliver and get Morocco to do better but clearly, Le Roy and his rejuvenated Hawks stand in the way.
The outcome of this game could go further to affect the eventual standings and determine which of the two sides will advance as Togo come into this game with a point and Morocco, need to recover from their 0-1 slip to DR Congo on the opening day.
The other group match between DR Congo and defending champions, Cote d'Ivoire look equally dicey as the Ivorians need a win at all cost to revive their campaign after their goalless draw with Togo on the opening day.
While the other three teams may be eager to claim their first win, the pressure is more on the defending champions, the Elephants to show how ready they are to defend their title by showing up against DR Congo in the first game of the day.
Given the array of stars in the Ivorian team, it was a surprise that they only managed a goalless draw against Claude Le Roy's Togo but they could count themselves out of the tournament if they fail to get a good result against the Congolese.