Fernando Santos sacked as Portugal manager after team's poor World Cup show

Fernando Santos quit as coach of Portugal on Thursday following the team's shock World Cup quarter-final loss to Morocco with colourful and controversial Jose Mourinho named as a leading candidate to take over. The Portuguese football federation (FPF) said in a statement that an agreement was reached with the 68-year-old Santos "to end the journey of great success that began in September 2014". The FPF added that it "will now launch the process to choose the next national coach". Daily sports newspaper Record claims that Mourinho is the federation's number one target to take over ahead of qualifying for Euro 2024.

Midway through the competition, the 68-year-old decided to bench Ronaldo, but the move against the African team did not result in an uptick in attacking success. Despite Santos' denials of disagreements with Ronaldo, the player's family and friends, starting with partner Georgina Rodriguez, publicly disapproved of him. You can’t underestimate the best player in the world, its most powerful weapon," Georgina said in a public message to Santos. She also addressed CR7 and said, “Today your friend and coach made the wrong decision. That friend for whom you have so many words of admiration and respect. The same one who, when putting you on the field, saw how everything changed, but it was too late."