Fernando Santos has left his post as coach of the Portuguese national team. The Portuguese, who had been cornered from all sides since Portugal’s surprising defeat by Morocco (1-0) in the World Cup quarter-finals, was in a delicate situation.
The resignation of Fernando Santos, 68, came as a surprise, because after losing the World Cup quarter-finals against Morocco (1-0), he said he had no intention of resigning. And this is even if local newspapers claim that the leaders of the federation wanted to shorten his tenure, which was supposed to last until Euro 2024.
Mourinho as his successor?
According to sports daily Record, Jose Mourinho will be the priority path for the federation. It would even be willing to replace Santos with a temporary agent to allow the current Roma coach to finish his season at the Italian club. But Mourinho has not yet commented.
Among the possible candidates are Portuguese coaches Rui Jorge (coach under 21), Abel Ferreira (Palmeiras), Paulo Fonseca (Lille), Rui Vitória (Egypt coach) and Jorge Jesus (Fenerbahçe).
First titles
Fernando Santos was appointed to the helm of Portugal in September 2014, and he presented Portugal with the first major titles in its history: Euro 2016 organized in France and then the Nations League 2019 on Portuguese soil.
But the coach, close to Cristiano Ronaldo, since the first appearance of the Golden Ball five times in Sporting Portugal, is also responsible for the qualifiers that he suffered in the round of 16 for the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020. His critics criticized his style of play in particular. Excessively realistic, which did not allow Seleção to take advantage of the emergence of a new generation of talented players.
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