Roberto Martinez, the former coach of Belgium and Everton, has been appointed as the head coach of Portugal.
The 49-year-old Spaniard will replace Fernando Santos Resigned After Portugal’s quarter-final loss to Morocco at the World Cup last month.
Martinez stood down After 6 years as the coach of Belgium after being eliminated from the group stage in Qatar.
Martinez said, ‘I am very happy to represent the national team that has the best talent in the world.
“I am very excited to be here. From the first time I spoke to the president of the federation, I knew that this is a sports project that excites me.
“I understand there are big expectations and big objectives, but there is a great team of people in the federation and I have great enthusiasm that together we can achieve those objectives.”
Portugal football president Fernando Gomes said: “This is an important moment for the national team.”
Martinez spent four years as Wigan manager, including winning the 2013 FA Cup, before a three-year spell at Everton where they finished fifth once and 11th twice in the Premier League.
Appointed Belgium coach in 2016, he led them to the top of the FIFA rankings in 2018 after coming third at the World Cup in Russia.
Portugal won the 2016 European Championship and the 2018–19 Nations League during Santos’ eight-year tenure.
However, they won just one of their three group games in Qatar and their campaign was overshadowed when Santos dropped forward Cristiano Ronaldo for the knockout games.
Martinez said: “My starting point will be the squad of 26 players who have played at the World Cup, and Cristiano Ronaldo is one of them.”
He added that he would make the decision “on the pitch and not in the office”.
Martinez was criticized by some for not getting more out of the so-called ‘golden generation’ of Belgian players, including Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku.
