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| Thursday, 07 June 2012 11:29 |
Fernando Santos: the “Atlas” helping Greece reencounter their route to successPortuguese coach gets Euro 2012 up and running Euro 2012 kicks off in little over 24 hours, and a Portuguese coach will be sitting in one of the dugouts at the first match. Greek journalist Kostas Xydias tells us how Fernando Santos has the full backing of the country ahead of the Poland-Greece opener.
Whoever succeeded Herr Otto Rehhagel (the so-called Rehacles) on the bench of the Greek National Team would have to lift such an enormous “moral weight”, it could be compared to the mythical Atlas! Don’t forget that Atlas, according the Greek mythology, was living near the pillars of Hercules somewhere outside modern Gibraltar and not far from Portugal (that’s why the Atlantic Ocean is named so).
So, who better to accomplish such a task than a man from this region? Fernando Santos, the Portuguese “engineer of Porto’s penta” accepted the risk. He not only accepted it, but he is undefeated in all official matches Greece have played under him and has only one loss (in a friendly against Romania last November) in 21 matches as coach!
Fernando Santos is a highly respected man in Greece, a country where the Portuguese are looked upon kindly. He was supposed to be the new coach of the National Team even before Rehhagel announced his resignation. Everyone recognises him as a calm and wise person who can get 110% out of his players’ abilities, and who has method, organisation, patience and faith in his system. He has been accused of setting up his teams very defensively and “producing” matches of just one goal. His response was his now famous phrase (when he was at PAOK): “Should we keep fooling ourselves, mistaking sardines for lobsters?”
Hard working and fairThroughout the considerable time he has worked in Greece Santos did not have the best team, sometimes not even the second best. But his sides always fought hard and the titles they lost were done so either in final games or on goal difference. For sure, if he could turn back time he would probably change some of his decisions, but who works and doesn’t make mistakes? Santos is not only a working man; he is a hard-working man. In contrast to the previous coach, who based himself in Germany, Santos is based in Greece and has carefully watched all the possible options before picking his squad. He is fair and he gives everyone the chance to prove they are worthy of being a member of the “family”.
There are, of course, moments when fans or the press may have their own issues or opposition to his decisions, like the choice of the three goalkeepers he is taking to Euro 2012, discarding with APOEL’s starter Chiotis and Panathinaikos’ goalkeeper Karnezis. But this happens worldwide. Who can forget the crowd in Greece demanding Rehhagel resign before Euro 2004, because he hadn’t picked Akis Zikos for the squad? It was the same crowd who was cheering loudly and giving the German a triumphant and historical reception just one month later.
Fernando Santos was no genius as a hard-working right back in his playing days. He continues to be a hard worker, a man who you can rely on to do his best, putting the team before his image. It is no exaggeration to say that is exactly how Greeks perceive Portuguese coaches in general, and why they have taken so kindly to them. Not only is Santos on the bench of the National Team. Jesualdo Ferreira is the Panathinaikos coach, Leonardo Jardim looks set to sign for Olympiakos, and Manuel Machado was in the Aris dugout last year.
Greece won the European Championship in 2004 by beating Portugal in the opening game and in the final, but Portugal has “beaten” us in coaching skills and that’s why we are now getting help from them. Fernando Santos is the finest example and one of Portugal’s best “ambassadors” in Greece.
by Kostas Xydias
Keep track of Portuguese players and coaches in Greece by following Kostas on Twitter @xydias
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It's even more frustrating that their manager is Portuguese. I swear that there are Portuguese managers finding success all over the place. The Portuguese Liga is the only league with only Portuguese managers. And yet out of the numerous Portuguese managers finding success, we can't manage to get even one to manage our national team! =/
The ref almost killed the matched with the two very suspect yellows. Played a man down the whole second half yet were able to draw even.
Yes they are very frustrating to watch at, if not most of the time. But then again it's the result that matters.
The Poles have to be very disappointed with this result.