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Herve Renard said he had no regrets about stepping in as Tunisia's short-term coach at the World Cup, even after the North African team ended a damaging Group F campaign with another defeat.
Tunisia lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in Kansas City on Thursday, adding to earlier defeats against Sweden and Japan. The result left them at the bottom of the group after a tournament in which they conceded heavily and failed to build on their unbeaten qualifying run.
Renard, a veteran French coach with long experience in African football, was brought in last week after Sabri Lamouchi was dismissed following Tunisia's opening loss. His role was effectively an emergency appointment, meaning he was hired at short notice to take charge during a difficult period.
After the Netherlands match, Renard gave a direct assessment of Tunisia's performance and said the team had not matched the standard required at the World Cup.
"We were not at the level for this World Cup," he said. "This is clear. There is no discussion."
He added that Tunisia had come up against very strong opponents in a difficult group and said the Tunisian federation now needed to sit down and examine what had gone wrong.
Tunisia had reached the World Cup after moving through African qualifying unbeaten and without conceding a goal. However, their form did not carry over into major tournaments, as they had also gone out in the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations, the continent's main national-team competition, earlier this year.
Despite the heavy defeats, Renard said he had no doubts about accepting the job. He told reporters that he had thanked the players and understood the psychological difficulty of trying to play through such a poor run.
He said the final match had been especially difficult because Tunisia were facing a strong Netherlands side in a packed stadium dominated by Dutch supporters wearing orange.
Renard did not commit to staying on after the World Cup, saying the federation had called him for a very short mission and that both sides had agreed on that basis.
Rather than watch the tournament from home, he said he had chosen to take the chance, adding: "Well, you know, I've got nothing to lose."
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