Herve Renard names Barry Copa to Cote d’Ivoire staff and rules out Serey Die role

Herve Renard has confirmed Barry Copa as the new goalkeeper coach for Cote d’Ivoire, while denying that former captain Serey Die will join his backroom team.

Renard made the announcement on Wednesday as he unveiled his first squad since returning to lead the Elephants. Serey Die will not be part of the senior coaching staff, despite holding a UEFA C Licence.

The former Cote d’Ivoire captain, who won 61 international caps and scored two goals, is continuing his training towards a CAF B Licence. Renard said the 40-year-old would instead gain experience with a youth national team as he develops his coaching career.

Barry Copa, meanwhile, has been appointed goalkeeper coach. His arrival represents a reconciliation with Renard, after the pair were reported to have parted on strained terms following Cote d’Ivoire’s Africa Cup of Nations triumph in 2015.

Renard was in charge of the Elephants for the first time during that tournament, when Cote d’Ivoire won the continental title. However, relations between the French coach and goalkeeper Barry Copa deteriorated after the player fell down the goalkeeping pecking order.

The decision was particularly difficult for Barry Copa, who had been restricted to a place on the substitutes’ bench during the tournament. He played only in the final after first-choice goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo suffered an injury.

Barry Copa, who won 86 caps for Cote d’Ivoire, announced his international retirement a month later, in March 2015.

The Elephants will begin their Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifying campaign against Ghana in Bouake on 24 September. They will then face Somalia four days later in Abidjan at Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny.

Cote d’Ivoire’s next fixture will be a friendly against Cameroon on 3 October, also in Abidjan, at Stade Alassane Ouattara.

The appointments form part of Renard’s preparations following his return to the Cote d’Ivoire job. His first competitive matches of this new spell will come in the scheduled qualifiers against Ghana and Somalia, before the friendly against Cameroon.