Fernando Santos Appointed As Poland New Coach

Santos appointed as Poland new Head Coach

Poland have announced the appointment of former Portugal manager Fernando Santos – who takes over as national team coach following the departure of Czeslaw Michniewicz.

Michniewicz left at the end of December after the FA chose not to renew his contract after guiding the squad to its first World Cup knockout stage appearance in 36 years in Qatar in 2022.

Santos, 68, will now follow Leo Beenhakker and Paulo Sousa as the third-foreign born coach.

Santos was fired by Portugal after unexpected quarterfinal loss to Morocco at the 2022 World Cup in December.

The 58-year-old led Portugal to victory at Euro 2016 and the 2018-19 Nations League.

He has managed Porto, AEK Athens, Panathinaikos, Sporting, Benfica, and PAOK as well as Greece for four years.

His job now will be to help Poland in their effort to qualify for Euro 2024.

‘Poland is a great country, with a huge history, a huge culture, similar to the level of its national team,’ Santos said at the official ceremony in Warsaw.

‘It is a team with many quality players, it is one of the teams that went to the World Cup. 

‘For me it is a gratifying thing to be able to continue this career as a selector in a country with so much influence, with so much quality. 

‘As of today I’m Polish, I’m one of you. We will do everything to bring joy to the Polish people.’

Portugal replaced the Portuguese with the appointment of former Belgium manager Roberto Martinez.