Portugal Football Association (FA) have reportedly approached Jose Mourinho to take over from Fernando Santos as the country’s head coach following the country’s exit from the World Cup.
Recently, Portugal was kicked out of the Quatar 2022 World Cup at the hands of Morocco in the quarter-final stage.
According to La Gazetta, the Portuguese FA put Mourinho at the top of their list to succeed the outgoing Santos as a potential replacement since he is due to step down.
Santos will depart having delivered Portugal’s first and only international trophy, after winning the Euros in 2016.
The incoming coach is currently the head of Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly called AS Roma. He joined last year and has an ambitious project at the capital club as he’s aiming to guide them back into the Champions League this season.
Last season, he guided Roma to Europa Conference League glory, the club’s first major European title in more than 60 years while becoming the competition’s first winner too.
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However, to persuade the most successful coach of all time, Portugal offered the possibility of sharing club and country duties at the same time. a rare prospect which the 59-year-old is reported to be intrigued by.
Mourinho is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most tactically astute managers in the world, having enjoyed trophy-laden spells at Porto, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea.
The former Tottenham Hotspur coach has been linked with taking over England’s national team in the past but he rejected the idea, although Portugal’s proposal to share the duties might be hard to ignore. The last person to hold two jobs in football management was Kevin Keegan, who was in charge of both England and Fulham at the same time.
Nonetheless, Mourinho’s hard to beat, organised and pragmatic style looks perfectly suited to international football, which is generally played at a pace more suited to Mourinho’s philosophy.
This, coupled with his unique man management style and ability to affect one-off games, on and off the pitch look to make him the ideal candidate to take this talented Portuguese side into the 2024 European Championships.
Mourinho’s ambitions with Roma needs as he aims to get the club back in the Champions League but he’s far from fulfilling since his side languishes in seventh place in the Serie A standings.
Portugal will kick off their Euro 2024 qualifying chapter on March 23 against Liechtenstein.
