Portugal hired former Belgium coach Roberto Martínez to lead its national team yesterday.
The Spaniard replaces Fernando Santos, who quit in December after Portugal’s elimination against Morocco in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Santos left amid the controversy of benching Cristiano Ronaldo in the knockout stage of the tournament in Qatar.
Martínez ended his six-year stint with Belgium after the team’s disappointing group-stage elimination at the World Cup, when he again failed to lead the nation’s golden generation to a triumph.
He arrives to a Portugal team filled with talented players like Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and João Félix, but also amid doubts over the future of the 37-year-old Ronaldo, who is now playing in Saudi Arabia.
The 49-year-old Martínez coached Belgium to a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup. The Belgians were ranked No. 1 by FIFA for four years during Martínez’s tenure but never won a major tournament despite having talented players like Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, the country’s all-time leading scorer.
Martínez had said he made the decision to leave Belgium before the World Cup in Qatar.
