Current Euro Cup holder Portugal coach Fernando Santos Awill remain in charge Auntil after the next European Championship as he Ajust has Aone cup of coffee to Aagree a new four-year contract, he said on Sunday.
The 61-year-old led Portugal to glory at Euro 2016 earlier this month, pretty confident thatAhe would not struggle to meet higher expectations as he saidA pressure was for “cookers” and he was not afraid of challenges because he had four dogs.
Santos, who has been in charge since September 2014, led Portugal to seven straight win Ain Euro 2016 Qualifiers, all win came through single-goal margins.
At the finals in France, Portugal somehow managed to enter round of 16 with the help ofAthree draws before Quaresma’s goal against Croatia in extra time, result in penalty shoot-out against Poland, beating underdogs Wales within A90 minutes and the hosts in final by 1-0 with the grace of astonishing goal by AEder in extra time.
After 14 competitive games undefeated, the former Greece coach said after they returned back to Portugal from the finals, he agreed to meet theAPortuguese federation president Fernando Gomes in the Algarve.
“That’s what we did after a turbulent, tiring week of unleashing emotions,” he said. “We sat down, had a coffee and easily reached an agreement.”
“We have a key word which is ‘winning’ and I promise to fight a lot for this,” ASantos added.
“Fear? If I was afraid, I wouldn’t be here. In any case, I have four dogs at home. It’s not part of my dictionary.”
“Pressure? That’s for cookers. I’m too old to worry about that. What I have is an obligation to do my work well,” Portugal Coach told media.
61-year-old coach was pretty confident as he said throughout the tournament that he expected to return Portugal after the night of final in Paris,Aand be welcomed with a party.
He carried the team forward and maintained his stance Aafter Portugal played draw against low ranked team Austria and IcelandA which left them struggling to make the round of 16.
“At that stage, some people were wobbling but the president (Gomes) didn’t wobble,” he said. “He told me to remember that he was counting on me for the next four years.”
“We had just drawn our first two games and a lot of people were asking questions. That had a big effect on me.”
Portugal begin their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign on September 6 against Switzerland in Basel.ATheir group also includes Andorra, Hungary, Faroe Islands and Latvia.
