(Football news) Portugal were knocked out of the 2022 World Cup Quarter finals by Morocco. Manager Fernando Santos was sacked after 8 years in charge. Santos in his reign won the Euro 2016 and Nations League 2019 which is an incredible feat as Portugal hadn’t won a major international trophy before. Portugal have now announced Roberto Martinez as the new manager. Martinez managed Belgium for 6 years where he kept them as the number 1 ranked team in the world for the longest time. The one thing he didn’t do is win a trophy despite having so many world class players at his disposal. 

Portugal are entering their golden generation with so many incredible players in every position. Roberto Martinez managed Belgium’s golden and the best he could do is a bronze medal at the World Cup. A manager who had won more trophies would’ve been a better fit because even at club level Martinez hasn’t had any significant success. It is definitely a safe call because Martinez has a lot of experience at the International level. According to reports, Roberto Martinez wasn’t Portugal’s first choice as former Real Madrid managers Zinedine Zidane and Jose Mourinho both rejected the offer.

Roberto Martinez, as expected, was asked about Cristiano Ronaldo’s international future. The Portuguese legend came off the bench in Portugal’s knockout games. He hasn’t officially retired and Martinez said that Ronaldo deserves respect after 19 years as part of the national team before saying that he is gonna speak about that with him soon. Ronaldo has a two year contract with Saudi club Al Nasser and he has said that he wants to play for another two years at least. He could realistically play the Euro 2024 but it is difficult to see him as a starter.

Also read: Hugo Lloris announces international retirement at the age of 36