Fernando Manuel Fernandes da Costa SantosGOM (born 10 October 1954) is a Portuguese professionalfootballmanager and former player who played as aleft-back.
He amassedPrimeira Liga totals of 161 games and two goals over eight seasons, almost always withEstoril. After retiring, he worked as a coach for several decades, starting out at his main club in 1988.
Santos managed Portugal'sBig Three, winning five major titles withPorto. For the better part of the 2000s he worked in Greece, mainly withAEK Athens andPAOK. In 2010, he was appointed at the helm of theGreece national team, coaching them in aWorld Cup and oneEuropean Championship. Subsequently, he ledPortugal to victory in theEuro 2016 and the2019 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 ofPoland, being dismissed in September.
Following a brief spell back in club management with Besiktas, Santos becameAzerbaijan's coach in June 2024.
Born inLisbon, Santos finished his development withBenfica, having joined its youth system at the age of 16. His senior debut was made withEstoril, which he went on to represent in the two majorlevels of Portuguese football.[2]
Santos made hisPrimeira Liga debut on 7 September 1975, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 home win againstFarense. He finished hisfirst season with a further 12 appearances, helping his team to the eighth position.[3]
Santos scored his first goals in the top division in the1978–79 campaign, only missing one league game in an eventual 11th-place finish.[4] For1979–80, he moved toMarítimo, where he was also first choice.[5] Having returned to his previous club, he played with them a further eight years (five being spent in theSegunda Liga) before retiring at the age of 33.
Santos started working as a manager immediately after retiring. He helped Estoril return to the top tier in1991 and, in the following ten years, only worked in that competition, being in charge ofEstrela da Amadora andPorto.[6]
Santos returned to his country for the2003–04 campaign, replacingLászló Bölöni at the helm of Sporting.[12] He was relieved of his duties on 2 June 2004, after his team was only able to rank third.[13]
From2004 to2006, Santos again managed AEK.[14] He led them to consecutive top-three finishes during his tenure, being votedManager of the Year in 2005.
On 20 May 2006, Santos joined former youth club Benfica.[15] He was responsible for the signing of former AEK playerKostas Katsouranis the following month.[16]
Santos returned to Greece and its top flight in early September 2007, signing a three-year contract withPAOK.[18] There, he joined forces withdirector of football – and former international –Theodoros Zagorakis, leading the team to the second position in2009–10.
Santos was also in charge during the2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, as Greece reached the knockout stage for the first time ever. Shortly before the start of thepenalty shootout againstCosta Rica, eventually lost 5–3, he wassent off by refereeBen 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;[24][25] he was initially banned for eight matches for the incident,[26] reduced to six upon appeal.[27]
On 23 September 2014, Santos was chosen as the new manager ofPortugal, afterPaulo Bento was fired due to poor results.[28] His first game in charge took place on 14 October in a 1–0 win inDenmark for theEuro 2016 qualifiers,[29] and the side went on to reach the finals in France;[30] during his suspension, it wasIlídio Vale that sat on the bench.[31][32]
On 10 July 2016, after three group stage draws that enabled group stage qualification as third,[33] Santos coached Portugal to its first-ever major international conquest, after a 1–0extra time defeat ofthe hosts.[34] The only win in 90 minutes occurred in the semi-finals, againstWales.[35]
On 10 October 2017, the day of his 63rd birthday,[36] Santos coached Portugal to a 2–0 win overSwitzerland at theEstádio da Luz, which enabled them to finish the2018 World Cup qualifying campaign with nine wins in ten games.[37] In the finals in Russia, the tournament ended at the round-of-16 stage after a 2–1 loss againstUruguay.[38]
After conquering the2018–19 UEFA Nations League,[39] Santos led the national team to the round of 16 atEuro 2020, where they lost 1–0 toBelgium.[40] In the2022 World Cup, after being disrespected by star forwardCristiano Ronaldo in the last group fixture againstSouth Korea as he wasreplaced (2–1 loss), he decided to bench him for the knockout phase,[41][42] beating Switzerland 6–1 in the last 16, their highest tally in a World Cup at that stage since1966, with Ronaldo's replacementGonçalo Ramos scoring ahat-trick,[43][44][45] but being ousted byMorocco in the next round;[46] on 15 December, following constant criticism over his defensive tactics and style of play, he was dismissed.[47][48]
Santos returned to club duties on 7 January 2024, signing forBeşiktaş in the TurkishSüper Lig.[54] He was fired on 13 April, following a six-game winless streak.[55]
On 12 June 2024, Santos was officially appointed at theAzerbaijan national side, having been assigned the task of helping to qualify forEuro 2028.[56][57] On 8 September 2025, having collected nine losses in 11 matches, he was relieved of his duties.[58][59]
Santos earned a degree in electrical and telecommunications engineering, awarded in 1977 by theInstituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa.[2][60] As he was in charge when Porto won its fifth consecutive championship in1999, he was nicknamedEngenheiro doPenta (Penta's engineer).[61]
In addition to his native Portuguese, Santos also speaks English[62] and Greek.[63]
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Grand Officer of theOrder of Merit (10 July 2016)[76]
