Roberto Martínez before appointment as Portugal coach – Santos successor

Disappointed at the World Cup with Belgium

After leaving as national coach of Belgium, Roberto Martínez is apparently facing a new engagement. A report by “The AthleticAccording to the 49-year-old, he will be in charge of the Portuguese selection in the future. It is said that there is already a corresponding verbal agreement – ​​the deal should be sealed by the end of next week. There was initially no confirmation from the Portuguese Football Association FPF, from Martínez himself or similar reports from other media.

For the Spaniard Martínez, the time as Belgian national coach ended after more than six years in office with the surprising elimination of the preliminary round at the World Cup in Qatar. “I’m not resigning. It’s the end of my contract,” he said at the time. He said that after 2018, when Belgium finished third at the World Cup in Russia, he had many opportunities “to leave and take jobs at club level, but I wanted to stay loyal”. Martínez looked after the “Red Devils” in a total of 79 games in which he won 56. Previously, he was on the sidelines at Everton FC for three years.

Now a continuation of his career at national team level is in the offing. The Portuguese post has been vacant since coach Fernando Santos was relieved of his duties five days after losing to Morocco in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. Santos was responsible for the selection for more than eight years and had won 68 games in 109 games – including the triumph at the 2016 European Championship and Jorge Jesus of Fenerbahce have been traded as successor candidates. With Martínez, after the Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, who was on the sidelines between 2002 and 2008, a non-Portuguese could take over the national team again.

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