WARSAW. The Polish Football Association (PZPN) definitively dismissed Fernando Santos from the post of head coach of the national team.
The sixty-eight-year-old Portuguese coach faced pressure due to Poland’s disappointing results in qualifying for next year’s European Championship, in which the “red and white” are in 4th place with six points.
“I would like to thank coach Santos for his work with our national team and wish him the best of luck in his next sporting challenges,” said Cezary Kulesza, president of the Polish Football Association (PZPN).
The former captain of Poland followed up on his words: “Although our relationship ends here, I am grateful to have led the Polish national team. I wish Poland and the people who received me so well during my stay all the best.”
In the past, the experienced coach led Portugal to triumph at European Championship 2016 and in 2019 to victory in the first edition of the League of Nations, but he did not give the Polish team the expected new impetus.
“I’m only a coach and I can’t do miracles while waiting. It’s a long-term project. Despite the loss in Albania, I’m not going to resign from my position, neither today nor tomorrow.
If representatives of the Polish Football Federation ask me to quit the national team, then it will happen,” said the Portuguese after Sunday’s loss to Albania (0:2), which eventually cost him the coaching chair.
Santos has been in office since January this year after eight years on Portugal’s bench.
The Poles have lost three of their five matches in their five-member qualifying group E for the EURO.
Table of group E qualification for EURO 2024
2023-09-13 16:55:57
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