Officer: Fernando Santos, from Portugal to Poland

the portuguese Fernando Santos, coach of the Portuguese national team until he fell in the quarterfinals of the World Cup final in Qatar 2022, was unveiled on Tuesday as Poland’s new coach, a position in which he replaces Czeslaw Michniewicz, with the hope that the Polish team will find stability.

The 68-year-old Lisbon coach spoke in his language during the presentation and in favor of “hard work” and squad communication and clarified that “if there is no player there is no coach and vice versa”.

It is precisely his ability to get the best out of talented individuals that is one of the factors that the Poles value so much as to put him at the helm of the national team, a fact that Santos himself acknowledged.

“Fortunately, I always train good players,” explained Santos; “Everyone has their own mentality and personality and the selector must know how to combine them”. But, he clarified: “In training, I am the leader, the players must respect that and always.”

The emphasis on defense, one of the Portuguese’s hallmarks, will continue to be important in his Polish phase. “If we do not lay a good foundation and build a strong house, the house will collapse. And defense is the basis”, explained Fernando Santos.

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Although he promised to live in Warsaw and “become another Pole”, Santos will not return to Poland until February, when he will do so with his technical team, and on March 24 he will make his official debut against the Czech Republic in the first qualifying match for Euro 2024.

From then on, all efforts will be focused on qualifying. for next year’s Euro Cup to be held in Germany, as indicated by the president of the Polish Federation, Cezary Kulesza.

“The contract with Santos has two cycles: the first goes to Euro 2024 and the second to the 2026 World Cup. This is the best for both parties,” the president explained.

Contrary to what happened to his predecessor in office, Czesław Michniewicz, good communication with the squad, press and fans it doesn’t look like Santos’ arrival will be a problemwho is used to taking criticism and taking it out on the pitch.

In a clear allusion to the dissatisfaction of Robert Lewandowski during the Michniewicz administration, Santos emphasized that he will try to prevent this problem from happening again and promised to “return passion, joy” to the “family” made up of players and ensured that “clubs work more on the physical appearance” of footballers, but “In selection, mental and emotional issues are more important.

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Santos also refused to judge the work of de Paulo Sousa, who preceded Michniewicz. and he threatened the Polish team before the World Cup in Qatar to take over Flamengo and is currently without a club.

Santos has been in charge of the Portuguese team for the last eight years and his greatest achievements were the Eurocup title in 2016 and the League of Nations in 2019, but the failure suffered in Qatar’s defeat against Morocco and the decision to sit Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench ended up deciding his new professional course.

For his part, the Polish national team went through a kind of desert journey for many years, And despite the quality of Lewandowski and his teammates, the lack of good coaching has frustrated their aspirations to make history in major tournaments. In Qatar 2022 they fell in the round of 16 against France (3-1) after a careful participation in which the Barcelona striker hardly shone, the victim of a too conservative strategy.

“I want to do in Poland what I did in Greece and Portugal. I want to leave a legacy, something for the future (…) I want to lay the foundation for a new team, also dedicated to youth teams,” said the Portuguese.