Paulo Bento (54) was not the manager. Coach Fernando Santos (68), who led the Portuguese national team, will lead the Polish national team.
The Polish Football Association (PZPN) announced on its official website on the 24th (Korean time) that “Coach Fernando Santos has been appointed as the new coach of the national football team.”
The contract period with Santos is until June 2026, and he will lead the team in the European Football Federation (UEFA) Euro 2024 and the 2026 International Football Federation (FIFA) North and Central America (Canada, USA, Mexico) World Cup.
After reaching the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar, Poland parted ways with coach Czesław Mikhniewicz.
Foreign media reported that Bento, who previously led the Korean national team, will take the helm of the Polish national team. Bento was considered a strong candidate along with Steven Gerrard, who was recently sacked from Aston Villa. However, both Bento and Gerrard were finally confirmed as Santos coaches while negotiations with the Polish Football Association finally broke down.
Having played for GD Estoril Praia and CS Maritimo (above Portugal), he started his coaching career in 1987 as GD Estoril Praia command tower.
Since then, he has managed CF Estrella Amadora, FC Porto (more than Portugal), AEK Athens, Panasinaikos FC (more than Greece), Sporting Lisbon, SL Benfica (more than Portugal), and PAOK FC (more than Portugal).
It was in the summer of 2010 that I first took over as coach of the national team. He led the team until the summer of 2014 after taking over as head 먹튀검증 coach of the Greek national football team at the time. He led the team to the quarterfinals at Euro 2012 and the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Then, from the summer of 2014, he was called by his home country, Portugal, and coached the Portuguese national team until 2022. He brought trophies to his country at Euro 2016 and the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League. In addition, at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, it was in a group with Korea and reached the quarterfinals, but failed to advance to the quarterfinals due to a Moroccan storm.
According to the Polish Football Association, coach Santos said at his inaugural press conference in Warsaw, “From today I am Polish. I am one of the Poles. It is an honor to continue my career in such a good team.”
“Playing against Poland has always been difficult,” he said. “I am ready. From today I will live in Warsaw. I also want to learn about Poland, its culture and way of thinking.”
Coach Santos coached superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (38, Al Nasr) while serving as the Portuguese coach. He said, “Fortunately, I have been with great players. The most important thing is not ‘I’ but ‘we’. Everyone has their own individuality. A leader must fuse everything to make ‘one’.” revealed the philosophy.
He also said, “Football is a very simple game. The most important thing is to score a goal and not concede.” There aren’t many, but there are players who are used to competing at the highest level.”
Cesary Kulesha, head of the Polish Football Association, said of Santos, “He has everything we wanted.