Portugal name Roberto Martinez as new coach

Portugal have named the immediate past coach of Belgium, Roberto Martinez as the new coach of its national team.

The Portuguese Football Federation made the announcement on its Facebook page on Monday.

The post was accompanied with a photo of the Spaniard with the caption, “A new Leader at the service of Portugal: welcome, Mister Roberto Martinez!”

Martinez, 49, who stepped down as Belgium coach following their ouster from the World Cup in Qatar in the group stage, takes over from Fernando Santos who won the Euro 2016 with the team as well as the maiden UEFA Nations League title in 2019.

The former Everton coach, who had a plethora of stars to manage during his time with Belgium, will even have it tougher with Portugal who parade some of the biggest names in world football including skipper Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Bernado Silva among others.

Martinez has been accused by many to have underachieved with the Belgium side which was widely touted as the golden generation of the Belgium football.

Under his leadership however, Belgium were top of the FIFA world rankings for more than three years.