Euro 2016-winning coach Fernando Santos, 70, has parted ways with Turkish giants Besiktas.
The club announced his dismissal on Thursday (Aug. 14) through its official channels. “We would like to thank Coach Santos for his hard work and wish him every success in the future,” the club said in a statement.
Santos stepped down in January, just three months after taking over the vacant Besiktasci job. The reason: poor results. In 16 games, the club has won seven, drawn four and lost five for a win percentage of 43.75%. Besiktas is currently in fourth place with 48 points after 32 rounds in the Turkkiye Super Lig.
Santos took over the reins of the Portuguese national team in 2014, succeeding current United Arab Emirates coach Paulo Bento, and enjoyed great success, winning Euro 2016 and the European Nations League in the 2018-2019 seasons.
He coached the national team for eight years, leading them to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. His bold decision to bench ‘superstar’ Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nasr) in the World Cup finals attracted attention. In their final group game, they lost 1-2 to South Korea, who were coached by the ‘junior Portuguese soccer player’ Bento. “They are a team that Bento has coached in a great style. They are very fast and aggressive, but they are also very organized in defense. They are a well-prepared team.”
Santos took on a new challenge last January when he took charge of the Polish national team. However, after just six games in charge (three wins and three losses), he was dismissed in September. A poor run of form in Euro 2024 qualifying led to calls for his resignation from fans.
After 14 years in charge of Estoril, Porto, AEK Athens, Panathinaikos, Sporting and Benfica, Santos failed to meet the club’s expectations.
Before taking charge of the Portuguese national team, Santos coached the Greek national team from 2010 to 2014.
What about the current vacancy at the helm of the South Korean national soccer team? The fact that he is a 토토사이트 Portuguese, like Bento, with a wealth of national team coaching experience and a good reputation in South Korean soccer is a positive, but his recent downward spiral and advanced age are obstacles.
In a briefing on Feb. 2, Jeong Jung-sung, chairman of the Korea Football Association’s power strengthening committee, said the organization has shortlisted 11 candidates (seven foreigners and four Koreans) for the next manager and will interview them. Among the foreign candidates are France women’s national soccer team coach Hervé Renard. Former Seoul coach Senol Guinness has also publicly expressed interest in the job.