Poland to fire coach! Santos expected to quit after just six games on the bench

Well, this engagement didn’t go well at all. After the World Cup in Qatar, Fernando Santos quit the Portuguese national team and immediately joined the Polish national team. But he only lasted 6 games on the bench.

Fernando Santos took over the Portugal national team in 2014. The team had arguably the biggest star in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, but no other elite quality players and therefore regularly dropped out in all tournaments.

But Santos was able to turn technical individuals into a team and lead Portugal to the European Championship trophy in 2016. He made history by doing so, as it was Portugal’s first trophy. This secured his place in the national team for the next 8 years.

But he was more likely to miss them. With the golden generation around Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancela, Ruben Dias, Joao Felix and others, he didn’t get further than the quarter-finals in three championships, and twice more he dropped out in the eighth round. So it was time for a change.

Santos immediately took over Poland, the Czech Republic’s opponent in the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championships in Germany. But he didn’t stay on the bench for long, because the promotion is in great danger.

The Poles first lost to the Czech Republic 1: 3, after which they defeated Albania, but then devalued it again by losing 2: 3 to Moldova. Moreover, they threw away the obligatory win over the Faroe Islands by losing to Albania.

Second expulsion in a year

Logically, there was talk of a sacking in Poland, but Santos refused. “I am definitely not going to resign. Let’s not forget that we only had 10 training sessions together,” he defended himself after the loss. But he didn’t feel up to resigning even with the Portugal team and he was quit anyway.

After five matches played, the Poles are only in 4th place in the qualifying group behind Albania, Czech Republic and Moldova. They have 6 points, Czechs and Moldova 8, Albania 10, but the Czech team has a match to spare.

With three rounds to go, it is a real possibility that the Poles will not make it to the European Championships. They absolutely have to win the remaining three duels (Faroe Islands V, Czech Republic D, Moldova D) and hope that those ahead of them stumble.

But the Portuguese coach will probably not be there. According to Polish TV channel TVP Sport, the national team management has decided to sack Santos. the 68-year-old coach has only coached six games with a record of three wins and three defeats.

Source: TVP Sport