Portugal to look abroad
Tuesday, November 5, 2002
Article summary
UEFA EURO 2004™ hosts Portugal are hunting for a foreign coach to lead them at the finals.
Article body
UEFA EURO 2004™ hosts Portugal are set to appoint a foreign coach to lead them at the finals.
Search is on
The Portuguese Football Federation chairman Gilberto Madaíl said today that former Boavista FC, Sporting Clube de Portugal and SL Benfica coach Manuel José had withdrawn his interest. "Today I was mandated by the board to find a new foreign coach with competent requirements to assume the leadership of the national team," Madaíl said.
Previous success
Portugal have only ever had one foreign coach before, but he achieved considerable success. In 1966, Brazilian Otto Glória, a former Benfica and FC Porto coach, took Portugal to the FIFA World Cup semi-finals where they lost 2-1 to host nation and eventual winners England.
Scolari linked
Madaíl added that he hoped to announce the name of the new coach by the end of November. Media reports have named Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led Brazil to victory in this year's World Cup in Korea/Japan, as the front-runner for the position. In the meantime, caretaker coach Agostinho Oliveira will lead Portugal in a friendly against Scotland on 20 November. Agostinho Oliveira took over from Antonio Oliveira, who was sacked after Portugal's disappointing first-round exit at the World Cup.
