Portugal coach relieved of his duties by the Portuguese Football Federation
Paulo Bento is no longer the coach of the Seleção. The Portugal boss has paid the price for an underwhelming World Cup qualifying campaign, a poor showing at Brazil 2014 and the dreadful performance in the opening Euro 2016 qualifying match last Sunday, which ended in a 1-0 defeat at home to Albania.
The FPF statement reads as follows:
The Portuguese Football Federation communicates that today, 11 September, it terminated its contract with Paulo Bento.
The decision was taken jointly by the FPF Board and Paulo Bento.
We thank Paulo Bento for what he did for our Seleção, namely qualifying Portugal for EURO 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.
The FPF is now working on a solution to head our Seleções which will be announced soon.
Once again we would like to thank the national team coach Paulo Bento.
Early speculation sees ex Greece coach Fernando Santos, who has also managed FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting, and two-time championship winning coach Vítor Pereira (at Porto), as the front-runners to take up the vacancy. Both men are currently available.
Portugal's next competitive match is away at Denmark on 14 October.
