Portugal’s dreams of going all the way in the FIFA World Cup 2022 were brought to an abrupt halt as Fernando Santos‘s men were outclassed by Morocco in the quarterfinals.
Santos has been hailed as a good servant to his nation in delivering Portugal’s first major trophy in the form of the 2016 Euro trophy.
Since then, however, he has struggled to live up to the expectations previously set for himself. Portugal has subsequently been eliminated in the Euro 2020 in the knockout stages and it was Deja vu for Cristiano Ronaldo and co. at the 2022 World Cup.
BREAKING: Fernando Santos will be leaving his position as manager of Portugal.
as per, @abolapt pic.twitter.com/CaZcxsiJ4y
— Próxima Jornada (@ProximaJornada1) December 13, 2022
Initially, Santos had been appointed for the Portuguese project till at least the Euros in 2024. However, after the embarrassing exit from this year’s World Cup, the Portuguese FA is actively looking for replacements.
Portugal has followed in the footsteps of Brazil, which is also searching for a replacement for Tite.
While the Brazilian FA has it narrowed down to Carlo Ancelotti, Portugal is eyeing Jose “The Special One” Mourinho.
Jose Mourinho is one of the greatest tacticians of all time. His trophy cabinet includes 8 league titles spread across the national leagues of 4 different countries. He has also won the prestigious UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Conference League. Apart from that, the 59-year-old has won other major honors in the form of League Cup Competitions and International Cup Competitions.
🚨 Portugal have offered the managerial job to José Mourinho. 🇵🇹
He could combine the position with the head coach role at Roma and the idea interests the Portuguese manager.
(Source A Bola) pic.twitter.com/5pcUWyut5D
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) December 13, 2022
The self-proclaimed “Special One” has also been dubbed “Serial Winner”.
He is currently employed by Italian Serie A club Roma, where his contract runs till 2024.
Reportedly, the Portuguese FA has offered him a unique role. It seems that should the Portuguese coach join his national side, his country’s FA is prepared to offer him the opportunity to coach Roma side-by-side.
How many clubs did Jose Mourinho coach?
Jose Mourinho has managed a lot of clubs, amassing massive experience in the process.
All of his first three jobs as a manager that he had were in his native country, Portugal. He started by managing Benfica. The 59-year-old then managed União Desportiva de Leiria before taking over the reins at Porto. It was at Porto that he won The Premiera Liga twice, along with the famous UEFA Champions League win of 2003-04. Porto also lifted the UEFA Super Cup under Mourinho alongside domestic cups.
How Jose Mourinho managed to win the Champions League with FC Porto still baffles many football enthusiasts. pic.twitter.com/M1NanBj2D1
— MourinhoXtra™ (@Mourinho_Xtra) December 2, 2022
After that, he was scouted by Chelsea. There, he guided the Blues to successive Premier League triumphs along with domestic cup competition victories.
Post that, Jose was employed by Italian giants Inter Milan where he won Serie A twice. Inter Milan also lifted the Champions League under him, apart from domestic cups.
Mourinho caught the eye of European Royalty Real Madrid. He won La Liga with them, in addition to domestic cups.
🎉 Happy 56th Birthday Jose Mourinho!
🏟 909 Games Managed
✅ 589 Wins
🤝 186 Draws
❌ 134 Defeats🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 @FCPorto
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 @ChelseaFC
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 @Inter
🏆🏆🏆 @RealMadrid
🏆🏆🏆 @ManUtd🏆🏆 @UEFA Manager of Year
🏆 @FIFAcom Manager of Year👏 The Special One. pic.twitter.com/VtkmU5NkEc
— SPORF (@Sporf) January 26, 2019
A reunion with Chelsea was on the cards after his stint at Real Madrid. Upon his return, Mourinho won his third Premier League trophy with Chelsea, plus the community shield.
Next, he took on the challenge at Manchester United. He guided the reds to a UEFA Europa League victory, aside from two domestic cups.
After that, Jose moved on to London-based Tottenham Hotspur where he was favored to end their trophy drought. Famously, however, he was sacked before the League Cup final which Spurs eventually lost.
Of late, he has been employed by the Italian side Roma where he has been successful in guiding them to the UEFA Europa Conference League crown.
Mourinho’s relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo
Jose Mourinho is one of the biggest names in soccer management and Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the biggest names in soccer as well. The pair worked together at Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo was able to get his hands on the first piece of silverware as a Real Madrid player under Jose Mourinho. They won the Copa Del Rey together, before going on to win La Liga as well.
Even though they were a lethal manager-player combination, the pair did share differences in opinion.
Slight tussles between both of them had been reported back in 2013. In an interview with Portuguese media outlet A Bola, Mourinho was quoted saying: “Coaching [Ronaldo] was the highlight of my career. He’s the most professional player I’ve ever met.”
• 164 Games.
• 168 Goals.
• 49 Assists.
• 19 Hat-Tricks.Cristiano Ronaldo under Jose Mourinho. 🔥🤞 pic.twitter.com/EuLkaEEImN
— TCR. (@TeamCRonaldo) December 13, 2022
The Portuguese coach also reflected on the troubles he shared with Ronaldo, reported by the Telegraph:
“A coach and player may have their differences at a given time, but it ends there. I don’t have any problem. I had only one problem with him, very simple, very basic. When a coach criticizes a player from a tactical viewpoint trying to improve what in my view could have been improved. And at this moment he didn’t take it very well because maybe he thinks he knows everything and the coach cannot help him to develop anymore.”
However, in another interview with the Portuguese television station TVI, he said the following:
“The relationship does not exist. He plays for Real Madrid and I’m at Chelsea…”
Mourinho did go on to praise Ronaldo in the same interview, although he admitted that the relationship he shared with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was strictly business.