There was something reassuringly familiar about the sight of Herve Renard, crisp formal dress shirt, on the touchline and celebrating an Ivory Coast goal again.
Eleven years after he delivered arguably the defining triumph in the country's football history, the Frenchman - nicknamed the 'Sorcier Blanc' - has begun his second coming with two victories, two clean sheets, and six points to begin the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign in style.
First came a controlled - and deserved - 2-0 victory over Ghana in Bouake, where debutant Malick Yalcouye opened the scoring before captain Franck Kessie converted a second-half penalty after a somewhat dubious call.
Another 2-0 victory, this time over Somalia in Abidjan, was less impressive, although the Elephants got over the line with a late double following a frustrating and awkward encounter against one of the continent's would-be minnows.
Ultimately, substitutes Yann Gboho - another new Renard call-up - and Bazoumana Toure scored the goals to give the West Africans a commanding lead at the top of their qualifying group.
In July, following the Ivorians' World Cup exit against Norway, I argued that the Elephants had all of the ingredients to become Africa's next great force.
The tournament had revealed a generation capable of re-establishing the West Africans as one of the continent's genuine powerhouses, with the likes of Amad Diallo, Ousmane Diomande, Guela Doue, Christ Inao Oulai and - particularly - Yan Diomande spearheading the youngest squad in the competition.
They reached the World Cup knockouts for the first time, and their elimination was due to profligacy and inexperience, rather than being outclassed by their opponents.
The challenge for the FIF, ahead of - and in the aftermath of - the World Cup was to ensure this team were guided and coached by a figure who had the clout, pedigree and nous to get the most out of a talented, promising collective.
Emerse Fae will always go down in Ivorian folklore for not only salvaging the 2024 AFCON campaign on home soil, but actually inspiring a broken and demoralised squad to the unlikeliest of continental crowns.
However, the 42-year-old was in his first senior coaching job, acknowledged himself that he was learning as he went along, and didn't always know how to exploit the wealth of resources at his disposal.
Renard has proven - with the Ivory Coast, no less - that he knows how to do this.
The great Elephants generation of Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure, Gervinho and Co. had spent the previous decade before Renard's arrival being known - with increasing derision and mockery - as the most talented African team never to have won silverware.
At times, their repeated failures reached baffling dimensions, with the Elephants infamously reaching the 2012 AFCON final without conceding a goal, only to fall victim to minnows Zambia and their 'driven by destiny' miracle run to the title. Who managed that Zambia team to that remarkable continental crown? Herve Renard, of course.
That defeat left an impression on the Ivorian federation, and following their limp exit at the 2014 World Cup - another underperformance by the Golden Generation - they turned to the Frenchman to reproduce his Chipolopolo magic with another side in need of a change of air.
Immediately, Renard emphasised the collective over reputation, axed some key names - Sol Bamba was unceremoniously discarded, Didier Zokora retired - and put his faith in youth.
Defenders Eric Bailly and Wilfried Kanon were uncapped when they took starting roles in defence at the 2015 AFCON, Boubacar 'Copa' Barry was cut for Sylvain Gbohouo, Renard remodelled the formation, and after a slow start, the Elephants ended up by defeating Ghana on penalties in Bata to win their second continental crown.
His impact was not purely motivational; Renard imposed greater defensive discipline on a team historically associated with its attacking stars, and known for costly lapses at the back, demanded the big names sacrificed themselves for the greater good, and attacked the psychological burden that the previous years of failure had accumulated.
"We had a team that knew how to suffer, not only to play well," he once told Jeune Afrique of his Zambia side, revealing what he values in a group. "We had the best team of the tournament, not of Africa."
It was fitting that the Black Stars were defeated on penalties, with Ivory Coast coming from behind to emphatically banish the demons of that loss against Zambia three years prior.
A 23-year wait for the AFCON title had been ended, and Renard became the first man in history to coach two separate national teams to the continental crown.
His Elephants side wasn't as star-studded as in previous years - Didier Drogba had already hung up his boots - but it was more resilient, more pragmatic, and survived the psychological test.
Later that year, Renard and the Elephants parted ways, with the head coach tempted by the prospect of taking the reins at Lille.
Renard never converted his African success into an elite European coaching career; he lasted at Lille only for a couple of months, returned Morocco to the World Cup in 2018 but was dumped out of the 2019 AFCON by Benin, and pulled off one of the all-time great giant killings when his Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina in Qatar in 2022.
Despite his viral team talks, the Green Falcons ultimately failed to escape the group, while subsequent stints with France's women's team and back in Saudi Arabia didn't bring the anticipated success.
For all of his charisma, expertise and tournament track record, Renard never quite made the leap to the mainstream that his achievements with Zambia and Ivory Coast once promised.
This is why he arguably needs a return to the Elephants as much as they need him.
The Ivorians' elite talent pool gives him the opportunity to work with some of the world's brightest talents, and prove that he can manage genuine superstars, while he's entering an environment which is already familiar to him, and where his authority is already recognised.
Nicolas Pepe's reaction says a lot about the aura Renard still retains in the West African country.
The former Arsenal wideman acknowledged that he'd considered retiring from international football after the World Cup, only to re-commit when the Frenchman returned to the helm.
"I had left some doubts about my situation with the Ivory Coast," Pepe told journalists, "but I had a discussion with the coach, where he explained what he wanted to do with me and everything he expected of me.
"I think that tipped the scales, and that's why I'm here."
It's a new generation for Renard to work with, and while the eight new faces he turned to for this international break are evidence for his desire to evolve the side, he'll recognise that Fae has left him a valuable spine around which to build.
"Things will be built little by little," Renard said ahead of the Somalia game which, in contrast to the Ghana display, was far less impressive, with the Elephants dominating possession but only making the breakthrough in the 88th minute through Gboho.
Diomande was influential as Toure added a second, with his dribbling down the right, change in balance to take out a defender, and then a speculative shot which bounced back off the post paving the way for the Newcastle United wonderkid to wrap up the win.
The new Real Madrid signing represents arguably Renard's most compelling challenge, and could emerge as the defining figurehead of this African cycle.
The 19-year-old's unpredictability gives the Elephants the x-factor they need against packaged defences, while his versatility makes him a particularly useful asset in multiple attacking roles.
Against Somalia, he was at the heart of the Ivorians' attacking play - proving he can be more than just an ornament - but must sustain his career momentum after a meteoric rise, to the Bernabeu, no less.
Yet Diomande is by no means complete; the World Cup largely passed him by after a bright opener against Ecuador, while his attitude and maturity were both questioned at times earlier this year.
Where does his individual electricity fit into Renard's Elephants, and how does the experienced coach fit the rest of the team's vibrant offensive quality into a coherent tactical schema?
They have the talent for a genuine Nations Cup challenge, they have increasing tournament experience, and now they have a coach who both knows how to make a team greater than the sum of its parts...and how to win the AFCON.
This time, Renard is not inheriting a side haunted by past failures and sustained mockery; he's inheriting a team that knows it can be African champions, populated by young players who could each have over a decade at the top of the continental game ahead of them.
A decade ago, the Frenchman's mission was to end an era of failure, now, with this squad, he must launch an era of dominance.
