Roberto Martinez has reportedly agreed to become the new head coach of Portugal’s national team. The appointment of the 49-year-old will be completed by the end of next week as reported by the Athletic's David Ornstein. Martinez generated a lot of interest from many other clubs and international football teams.
The former Wigan Athletic manager was a free agent after leaving his role as Belgium's head coach after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Martinez is now set to take over a Portugal side which reached the quarter-final stage of last year’s World Cup. The 49-year-old will be replacing Fernando Santos, who ended his eight-year stint with Portugal after their exit against Morocco.
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Talking about Roberto Martinez’s new team, the Portuguese have one of the best-set players looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup. The Os Navegadores is currently ranked ninth in FIFA’s world rankings and has stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva. Along with these established stars, Portugal also boasts of a new crop of talent including players like Rafael Leao, Joao Felix and Diogo Dalot etc.
Talking about Martinez’s stint with Belgium, he guided the Belgian Red Devils to their best-ever World Cup, a third-place finish in Russia in 2018. They ended the tournament as top scorers with what was called a 'golden generation' for the country including the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard in their prime.
Addressing his exit as the Belgian head coach, Roberto Martinez stated that he didn’t quit his job and instead his contract was over. He said, “I don’t resign. It’s the end of my contract,” he said. “Since 2018 I had many opportunities to leave and take jobs at club level, but I wanted to stay loyal.”
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