Fernando Santos appointed as head coach of national team

Portuguese professional football manager Fernando Santos has been appointed as the new head coach of the Azerbaijan national football team, Azernews reports.

The decision was announced at the virtual meeting of the AFFA Executive Committee (EC).

Portuguese national Santos led Portugal to the UEFA EURO 2016 title. Santos also guided Portugal to the 2019 UEFA Nations League championship.

He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 161 games and two goals over eight seasons, almost always with Estoril. 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. For the better part of the 2000s, he worked in Greece, mainly with AEK Athens and PAOK. In 2010, he was appointed at the helm of the Greece national team, coaching them in a World Cup and one European Championship.

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.

Formed in 1992, the Azerbaijani Association of Football Federations (AFFA) is the governing body of football in Azerbaijan.

The Association is responsible for overseeing all aspects of amateur and professional games in its territory.

It runs numerous competitions, the most famous of which is the Azerbaijan Cup. AFFA is a member of both UEFA and FIFA.