Since a few days now, it always looked obvious that the 57-year-old would be sacked with rumors suggesting a couple of weeks ago that Euro 2008 winning coach – Luis Aragones – could be the next man in charge of Portugal’s national football team. As at now, no name has clearly emerged talking about Carlos Queiroz’s successor although Paulo Bento is the hottest name on the list.
The subject, for the time being, is that the former Real Madrid boss has been sacked by the FPF (Portuguese Football Federation). Now the question is: have Portugal made a smart move in discharging Carlos Queiroz? How positive or negative could that prove to be for the Euro 2004 hosts and runners-up who have had a poor start in the Euro 2012 qualifiers?
It had been reported earlier on that a meeting would take place on Thursday concerning the future of the then-Portugal coach. Finally, a statement from the FPF read in the aftermath of the meeting:
“Given the recent events, and after reviewing the situation concerning the national team coach, the directorate of the FPF decided unanimously to terminate Carlos Queiroz’s contract with immediate effect. This decision was communicated to Carlos Queiroz.
“The FPF will immediately start contacting and having talks in view of hiring a technician who can perform the functions of national coach in time, in order to prepare and lead the team in the forthcoming qualifying matches for the Euro 2012.”
It looks like Paulo Bento, Sporting CP’s former coach who is jobless since November 2009, is the favorite to land the vacated position. Either way, the next Portugal boss would have to work around the clock to build a strong squad that can seriously compete for honors.
In the meantime, the Iberian team needs to turn things around if they want to qualify for Euro 2012. The qualifying campaign will resume in October, and after disappointingly drawing 4-4 to Cyprus and losing 1-0 to Norway, things definitely have to change. So the Portuguese Football Federation – as explained – thought it was time to head into a new direction by leaving Carlos Queiroz behind.
Actually and generally speaking, nothing so sweet happened under the reign of Queiroz who replaced former Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari back in July 2008. Reaching the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa turned out to be a difficult affair for Portugal who had earned a kind draw which included the likes of Albania, Malta, and Hungary in the qualifying phase. In a way or another, Portugal had to determine their fate with a play-off tie against Bosnia Herzegovina where poor performances didn’t stop them all the same from qualifying into the World Cup.
However, Portugal’s adventure in South Africa proved to be one that fans would want to forget quickly. Captain Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t live up to expectations as Spain ousted their Iberian rivals in the Round of 16. Now, Portugal seat fourth in Group H’s five-team table as their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign got off to a bad start a few days ago.
Following A Selecção’s 1-0 defeat to Norway recently, fears that the 2006 World Cup semi-finalists may miss out on the 2012 European Championship have spread widely among Portugal supporters. Furthermore, the idea that the team would have to play for up to six months without Carlos Queiroz – who was banned following a dispute with Portugal’s Anti-Doping Authority – scared Portuguese even more.
Back in May, in fact, Carlos Queiroz was accused of disrupting an anti-doping test which was carried out during one of Portugal's pre-World Cup training session. The then-coach admitted behaving aggressively as he was given a one-month ban by the FPF. But this decision got reviewed later on and the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority finally slapped a six-month ban on Queiroz which the manager vowed to appeal against - explaining that he should have been aware of the verdict first before the media. In the meantime, Carlos Queiroz was serving his ban and he was set to miss Portugal's upcoming Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Denmark and Iceland should he have lost his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
So the end of Carlos Queiroz’s story as coach of A Selecção was pretty much predictable from an analytical point of view. September 9 will remain in the country’s football history as the date when Portugal sacked the former Manchester United assistant manager.
But does this mean that the Portuguese will enter into a successful era anytime soon? Wouldn’t they have a tough time building up their squad like France’s football team appear to be doing following the departure of former coach Raymond Domenech? Should Carlos Queiroz have been sacked much earlier than on Thursday or should he have maintained his role as Portugal’s national team boss?
Questions won’t stop flowing, fans won’t stop arguing, and hotter debates have actually just opened since Carlos Queiroz got the sack late on Thursday. Some Portuguese fans have even started mourning former manager Luiz Felipe Scolari louder than ever while other bitterly lament the current state of Portugal’s squad. The near future will tell us more about The Selecção’s fate… whether good or bad.
