The Portuguese Football Federation announced today, Thursday, that Fernando Santos has left his position as coach of the Portuguese national team, five days after the Seleção was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup by Morocco (1-0).
The two parties reached an agreement “to put an end to the path of great success that began in September 2014,” according to what the National Football Association explained, whose administration “will now launch the process aimed at selecting the next national coach.” press release.
“I leave feeling immensely grateful. When you lead a group, you have to make some tough decisions. It's normal for not everyone to be happy with the choices you've made.”
The 68-year-old Portuguese coach said last Saturday, after the last match in the World Cup, that he was not thinking about resigning, but the local press has since confirmed that the leaders of the National Football Association want to shorten his term, which is supposed to last until the Euros. -2024.
According to the Record sports daily, Jose Mourinho would be the priority path for the Etihad, which would be willing to replace Santos with a caretaker in order to allow the Roma coach to finish his season with the Italian club.
In response to a question from journalists shortly before Santos' departure was officially announced, and upon his arrival in southern Portugal to complete a training period with Roma, Mourinho did not make any comment.
Among the potential candidates mentioned by the media are Portuguese coaches Rui Jorge (U-21 coach), Abel Ferreira (Palmereis), Paulo Fonseca (Lille), Rui Vitoria (Egypt coach) and Jorge Jesus (Fenerbahce).
Tension with Ronaldo
Fernando Santos gave Portugal the first major title in its history: the 2016 European Nations Championship, which was organized in France, and then won the 2019 Nations League on Portuguese soil.
But the stern-looking coach, who has been close to Cristiano Ronaldo since his five-time Ballon d'Or start at Sporting Portugal, is also responsible for the eliminations he suffered in the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020.
His critics particularly criticized his overly realistic playing style, which did not allow the Seleção to benefit from the emergence of a new generation of talented players.
Then, in the middle of the 2022 World Cup, he ended up replacing Ronaldo, who remained on the bench at the start of the round of 16 win over Switzerland (6-1) after expressing his dissatisfaction with being replaced during the previous edition. match.
The confrontation between the coach and his team leader came at the end of a series of controversy over “CR7”, which separated from the English club Manchester United in the middle of the World Cup, which will inevitably disrupt Portugal’s path.
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