THE Portuguese football federation is reportedly considering sacking Fernando Santos and replacing him with Jose Mourinho, who is currently the manager of AS Roma.
Santos, who led Portugal to their only piece of major silverware, the European Championships trophy in 2016, could not take the team beyond the quarter-finals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
They lost at the last-eight stage to Morocco, who on Saturday became the first team from Africa to advance to the World Cup semi-finals.
Reports in Portugal and Italy today suggested that Mourinho could take on the role of managing his national team while also remaining in charge of Roma.
The 59-year-old former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager returned to Italy last year, signing a three-year contract with Roma.
Mourinho, who coached Inter Milan to the UEFA Champions League title in 2010, guided Roma to become the first-ever winners of the third-tier Europa Conference League last season.
Roma are currently seventh in Serie A, 14 points behind leaders Napoli, but they are within a shot of the Champions League places, just three points adrift of fourth-placed Lazio.
Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport added that Portuguese FA president Fernando Soares Gomes da Silva is seriously considering firing Santos after the disappointing World Cup outing, with former U-20s coach Rui Jorge one of the options.
They stressed that Mourinho is also a serious option and the arrangement would see the former Chelsea and Inter coach work a dual role, leading both Roma and the Portuguese national team.
