Fernando Santos to leave Greek natiotal team

During his tenure, Greece established itself as one of the top national teams in European level, proving that the 2004 miracle was no flash in the pan. But all good things in life ultimately come to an end. After four years on the Greek bench, Santos announced today that he will be leaving the team after the conclusion of its upcoming World Cup obligations in Brazil.

Yesterday he met with Greek Football Federation president Giorgos Sarris and announced his intention to leave the Greek bench for a European club bench this summer. The 60 year old coach has been yearning for a club position for a year now and he wasn’t shy in expressing his desire many times recently.

With the Portuguese on the bench, the Blue team was qualified in the Euro 2012 finals undefeated and reached a secong consecutive World Cup final after the two knock out games with Romania.

The next page in the team’s history is already under way. This afternoon, Federation president Saris will give a press conference, in which he will reveal the circumstances surrounding Santos’ decision and share his thoughts about his replacement. Preliminary reports mention two names as possible replacements: Ivan Jovanovic, former Iraklis player and recent manager of Cypriot club APOEL and Hector Raul Cuper, the Argentinean former manager of Mallorca, Inter Milan and, for a short period, Aris Salonika.