Portugal’s Fernando Santos replaced Czesław Michniewicz as Poland’s national football team coach. His contract will run until the end of the qualifying round for the World Cup 2026. 

Santos announced his willingness to produce pleasant football and to motivate his players to want to win every single game. His main challenge in the upcoming months will be accessible – to say the least. It will consist of qualifying the White and Reds for the Euro 2024. 

Why accessible, you might ask? Well, with all due respect to other national teams, Poles will be facing the Czech Republic, Albania, Moldova, and the Faroe Islands. 

https://twitter.com/EURO2024/status/1617915260236693506?s=20&t=6fGiFiuzoqEBmo4lNmLkIA

Interestingly, Poland has already had a Portuguese coach lately, namely Paulo Sousa. The latter produced decent results with the White and Reds but didn’t really leave as a gentleman. He signed a contract with the Brazilian national team shortly before the decisive playoff games for the World Cup awaiting Poland. 

Polish coach Czesław Michniewicz took over and achieved quite remarkable results. Not only did he qualify the Poles for the World Cup, but he also paved the way for the final stage of the prestigious competition for the first time in 36 years. 

Nevertheless, his contract wasn’t renewed due to several ongoing conflicts between him and other important figures in Polish football, including Poland FA boss Cezary Kulesza and the team’s captain Robert Lewandowski.  

Fernando Santos has been a manager since 1987. He coached major European teams in Portugal (Sporting, Benfica, FC Porto) and in Greece (PAOK Saloniki, AEK Athens). He remains most known as the coach of Portugal’s national team, with whom he won the Euro 2016, beating France, who played at home in the final.  

Image: Twitter @LaczyNasPilka/British Poles

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen