The separation of the Portuguese Football Association from coach Fernando Santos is perfect. The decision to say goodbye to the 68-year-old was announced on Thursday evening. Santos took over the team around superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in 2014 and led to the 2016 European Championship title. His contract would have run until 2024. After the disappointing 1-0 draw against Morocco in the World Cup quarter-finals, Santos announced that he wanted to talk to the association about his future.
As the newspapers “Record” and “A Bola” reported on Thursday, the Portuguese coaching icon José Mourinho should be the favored successor to the head of the association Fernando Gomes to succeed Santos. Mourinho, 59, has been in charge of Serie A club AS Roma since 2021. In Portugal, there was also speculation about U21 coach Rui Jorge, former Wolverhampton coach Bruno Lage and current Fenerbahçe coach Jorge Jesus as other candidates.
In an emotional video post, Santos spoke of a “life goal” that he had fulfilled. “When you lead groups you have to make some difficult decisions. It’s normal that not everyone was happy with my decisions. But I always thought of what was best for the team,” he said.
Santos was criticized in his home country, especially after the 1-0 draw against Morocco, when Portugal made little use of its superiority and was eliminated after conceding an unfortunate goal against the supposed outsider. The coach was also in focus for his dealings with captain Cristiano Ronaldo. After poor performances in the group games, he twice benched his star in the knockout phase at the start.