BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (AP) – Veteran manager Fernando Santos left his job with the Azerbaijan national team on Monday after losing 5-0 to Iceland in the team’s first qualifying game for next year’s World Cup.
The man who led Portugal to the 2016 European Championship title has resigned after a mutually agreed decision, the Azerbaijan Football Federation said.
After Friday’s defeat to Iceland, Santos was directly criticized by the federation’s executive director who said “the head coach didn’t do his homework.”
“This team and these players didn’t deserve such management or any such outcome,” Jahanhir Farajraev said of Santos. Comment has been reported by the government’s press APA.
Azerbaijan will host Ukraine next on Tuesday. Aykhan Abbasov, the coach of a team under the age of 21, will select a team for the game, the Federation said.
Azerbaijan will then play France on October 10th – Santos’ 71st birthday – in Paris, Portugal defeated the host country in the Euro 2016 final. Azerbaijan will then face Ukraine in neutral Poland after three days.
Santos has been expelled from work for Poland and Azerbaijani national teams since taking Portugal to the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals. Portugal lost to Morocco and Santos left a few days later. After over 8 years of responsibility.
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