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| Wednesday, 11 November 2009 10:31 |
Fernando Santos honoured by managerial award in GreecePortuguese receives prize Former Benfica coach Fernando Santos was voted as the 'Best Coach' at the annual Hellenic Association of Football Players awards ceremony in Greece on Monday evening.
The 55-year-old PAOK manager, nicknamed “the mechanic”, beat off competition from Ernesto Valverde, who had guided Olympiacos to the championship last term, and Larissa boss Marinos Ouzounidis, to claim the award voted for by the players of the Greek Super League for the third time in his career. Santos, who took charge of PAOK in 2007, guided the Thessaloniki outfit to a surprise second-place finish last year, losing just three of their thirty league matches, although the team failed to qualify for the Champions League during the traditional end-of-season play-offs. "I would like to say that it is a great honour for me to win this award for the third time,” said Santos, who surprised many at the ceremony by speaking Greek for the first time publicly. “This award also belongs to all who assisted me in this effort, from the president to the players. I would also like to wish good luck to the National Team (of Greece) in their effort to qualify for the world cup finals. It is very important that we are present there." By Sean Gillen Related article: Santos explains plans for PAOK Add your comment |
