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Santos the catalyst of Portuguese resurgence

PARIS — Cristiano Ronaldo reigns over the football pitch but his coach Fernando Santos calls the shots behind the scenes.

Portugal head coach Fernando Santos. Photo: Reuters

Portugal head coach Fernando Santos. Photo: Reuters

PARIS — Cristiano Ronaldo reigns over the football pitch but his coach Fernando Santos calls the shots behind the scenes.

The dynamic goalscorer and coach duo have taken Portugal to the Euro 2016 final and given it a chance to become the latest little nation to upset the continent’s giants.

After Denmark beat Germany in 1992 and Greece beat Portugal in Lisbon in 2004, the Portuguese now dream of upsetting France in their national stadium tomorrow (Monday morning, Singapore time) under Santos’ guidance.

Ronaldo’s threat has grown with each Euro match, while the 61-year-old Santos has taken the strain and made sure Portugal come back stronger each time they have ridden their luck.

Santos, who built his career with top clubs in Portugal — Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and Porto — and in Greece as well as the Greek national side, said Sunday’s final “will be the high point of my career”.

“It is my country, my flag, my fatherland, so from a personal point of view, it is very important for me,” he said of reaching the Euro showdown.

Santos has dramatically changed Portugal’s luck and outlook since taking over as coach in September 2014.

Portugal had lost their first Euro 2016 qualifying game 1-0 to Albania.

Santos took over in controversial circumstances, facing an eight-match touchline ban after being sent off when managing Greece at the 2014 World Cup.

He was accused of verbally abusing Australian referee Ben Williams when Costa Rica beat his side.

Appeals to Fifa and the Court of Arbitration for Sport saw the ban cut to two matches, with two suspended.

Santos’ luck has stayed with him. And he has found the right way to build a team around a genius like Ronaldo. The country won seven straight competitive matches to top their qualifying group.

He has taken the burden off Ronaldo’s shoulders in a way that eminent predecessors such as Paulo Bento, Carlos Queiroz and Luiz Felipe Scolari could not.

Ronaldo, three-time world player of the year and owner of a truckload of football records, now has a chance to win his first major international trophy.

‘final is not played, it is won’

Portugal drew against Iceland, Austria and Hungary in Group F and needed an extra-time goal to beat Croatia in the last 16. The team were criticised.

But Santos shrugged it off. When Ronaldo does not perform, the likes of Ricardo Quaresma, Nani, Pepe and now teenager Renato Sanches can stand in. If it takes an ugly win, so be it.

“Sometimes we have played better than the others, but I think the match against Croatia was of strategic importance,” he said. “It does not matter to us whether it is spectacular or not. Sometimes you play in an unspectacular way and you win. Other times, you play very spectacularly and you lose.”

The key to Portugal’s success is therefore likely to be whether Santos can maintain the organisation and defensive structure that has brought his team to the gates of the Stade de France.

“Two years ago, we set the target to get here,” he said. “We told each other that we had to do our utmost to get to France and reach this final. We have worked like crazy to get here. Now we have a final to play and you know that a final is not played, it is won.” AFP

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