Roberto Martínez set for return to international management
The Athletic reports that Martínez has reached a verbal agreement with the Portuguese Football Federation to succeed Fernando Santos as coach.
Roberto Martínez is very close to returning to coaching another national team. The Spanish head coach decided not to continue as Belgium’s coach after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where his team lost their first game in a group that included Morocco and Croatia, two semi-finalists. Martínez’s contract was up and, although the Belgian FA approached him to extend it before the World Cup, he has left and looks set to take over as head coach of the Portugal national team.
Fernando Santos has left his role with Portugal and the Portuguese Federation has entered talks to convince Martínez to take over, according to The Athletic. Negotiations have entered the final phase and Martínez has already reached a verbal agreement to take charge of Portugal, which could be made official within the next week.
Belgium record
Martínez took Belgium to third place at the 2018 World Cup and they reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 for the fourth time in their history. Since 2018, he has also held the position of sporting director of the federation and set himself the main objective of building a legacy in terms of organisation and structure, which he has achieved. He left his position as head coach after 79 matches with a record of 56 wins, 13 draws and 10 defeats.