Original title: Portugal men’s soccer coach Santos resigns
Xinhua News Agency, Lisbon, December 15 (Chen Baiqiao) The Portuguese Football Federation announced on the 15th that the old coach Santos will step down as national team coach, expressing his gratitude for his eight-year coaching career and saying he will start immediately the selection of a new coach.
The 68-year-old Fernando Santos has coached the trio in Portugal, Porto, Sporting and Benfica. From 2010 to 2014 he coached the Greek national team achieving good results at both the European and World Cups. In September 2014, Santos took over the Portuguese national team coach from Paul Bento. In 8 years, he coached the team and had 67 wins, 23 draws and 19 losses in 109 matches, leading the team to win the European championship in 2016 and the 2019 UEFA Nations League champions. These are also the only two major league titles in the history of the Portuguese team so far.
The Portuguese men’s soccer team broke through to the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but lost to the “dark horse” Morocco in the quarter-finals, reluctantly ending this World Cup away match. Santos’ decision to bench Ronaldo in the two knockout matches sparked heated discussions between the media and fans.
