Fernando Santos

Fernando Manuel Fernandes da Costa Santos (born 10 October 1954) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who played as a central defender.

He is the current manager of Süper Lig club Beşiktaş.

He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 161 games and two goals over eight seasons, almost always with Estoril.

Santos made his Primeira Liga debut on 7 September 1975, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 home win against Farense.

He finished his first season with a further 12 appearances, helping his team to the eighth position.

Santos scored his first goals in the top division in the 1978–79 campaign, only missing one league game in an eventual 11th-place finish.

For 1979–80, he moved to Marítimo, where he was also first choice.

Having returned to his previous club, he played with them a further eight years (five being spent in the Segunda Liga) before retiring at the age of 33.

Santos started working as a manager immediately after retiring.

After retiring, he worked as a coach for several decades, starting out at his main club in 1988.

Santos managed Portugal's Big Three, winning five major titles with Porto.

He helped Estoril return to the top tier in 1991 and, in the following ten years, only worked in that competition, being in charge of Estrela da Amadora and Porto.

Having signed for the latter side in summer 1998, Santos won the national championship and the Portuguese Supercup in his first season.

He finished second in the following to Sporting CP, and led the team to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

For the better part of the 2000s he worked in Greece, mainly with AEK Athens and PAOK.

In 2001, Santos was appointed at AEK Athens in the Super League Greece, winning the domestic cup and losing the league to Olympiacos on goal difference.

Staying in the country, he then joined Panathinaikos, leaving by mutual consent after only four months.

Santos returned to his country for the 2003–04 campaign, replacing László Bölöni at the helm of Sporting.

He was relieved of his duties on 2 June 2004, after his team was only able to rank third.

From 2004 to 2006, Santos again managed AEK.

He led them to consecutive top-three finishes during his tenure, being voted Manager of the Year in 2005.

On 20 May 2006, Santos joined former youth club Benfica.

He was responsible for the signing of former AEK player Kostas Katsouranis the following month.

After a third place in his debut season, only two points behind champions Porto, Santos witnessed the departure of captain and top scorer Simão Sabrosa to Atlético Madrid during pre-season.

On 20 August 2007, after a 1–1 away draw against Leixões, he was sacked and replaced with José Antonio Camacho.

Santos returned to Greece and its top flight in early September 2007, signing a three-year contract with PAOK.

There, he joined forces with director of football – and former international – Theodoros Zagorakis, leading the team to the second position in 2009–10.

In 2010, he was appointed at the helm of the Greece national team, coaching them in a World Cup and one European Championship.

On 19 May 2010, despite a chance of competing again in the Champions League, Santos announced his decision of leaving the Thessaloniki-based side in a press conference.

On 1 July 2010, Santos was named the new coach of the Greece national team, succeeding longtime incumbent Otto Rehhagel on a two-year deal.

He qualified the country to the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament, subsequently reaching the last-eight stage.

Santos was also in charge during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, as Greece reached the knockout stage for the first time ever.

Shortly before the start of the penalty shootout against Costa Rica, eventually lost 5–3, he was sent off by referee Ben Williams for apparent dissent.

He watched the decision unfold on a television from inside the stadium, and the defeat marked the end of his tenure as his contract expired the very next day; he was initially banned for eight matches for the incident, reduced to six upon appeal.

On 23 September 2014, Santos was chosen as the new manager of Portugal, after Paulo Bento was fired due to poor results.

Subsequently, he led Portugal to victory in the Euro 2016 and the 2019 Nations League, which were the first two major titles in the nation's history, before leaving in 2022.

The following year, he took over as manager of Poland, being dismissed in September.

Born in Lisbon, Santos finished his development with Benfica, having joined its youth system at the age of 16.

His senior debut was made with Estoril, which he went on to represent in all three major levels of Portuguese football.

His first game in charge took place on 14 October in a 1–0 win in Denmark for the Euro 2016 qualifiers, and the side went on to reach the finals in France; during his suspension, it was Ilídio Vale that sat on the bench.