Europe 1 with AFP 6:47 p.m., January 9, 2023

After leading the Belgian "golden generation" for six years without winning any trophies, Spanish coach Roberto Martinez was given the head of the Portugal team on Monday, where he will have the heavy responsibility of managing Cristiano Ronaldo's twilight.

He will not have waited before finding a national selection.

The Portuguese Football Federation formalized on Monday the arrival of Roberto Martinez as new coach, only a month after the latter left the Belgian team due to the elimination of the Red Devils in the group stage of the Cup. of the world.

"I want to know all the players and give everyone an opportunity. Cristiano Ronaldo is one of them," he said during his presentation press conference, not seeming to grant any special status to the five-time ball player. Golden.

>> READ ALSO

- Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will face each other one last time on January 19

Bound until 2026

The 49-year-old coach signed until 2026 and succeeds Portuguese Fernando Santos, who led the Seleçao between 2014 and 2022, a period marked by the conquest of Portugal's first major trophies: Euro-2016 and the first edition. of the League of Nations in 2019.

If Martinez was probably not the first choice of the Portuguese federation, which notably probed the Portuguese José Mourinho and the French Zinédine Zidane, its president Fernando Gomes said he was convinced "from the first discussion" with the Catalan that this ci "corresponded to the desired profile".

Namely a coach "connoisseur of international football, accustomed to coaching players at the highest level, with experience in the major championships and also in selection", he specified, giving him the objective of reaching minus the semi-finals of major tournaments.

>> READ ALSO

- Cristiano Ronaldo: the astronomical sum that the Portuguese will receive in Saudi Arabia

"A modern team"

Roberto Martinez, who placed Belgium for more than three years at the top of the FIFA rankings, simply promised to transform Portugal "into a modern team, with tactical flexibility to take advantage of the talent available".

His first meetings at the head of Portugal, which will take place at the end of March against Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, at the start of qualifying for Euro-2024, should ensure him a smooth transition.

Provided of course to properly manage the situation of Cristiano Ronaldo after all the controversy around his departure from Manchester United and his decision to leave for a golden exile at the Saudi club Al-Nassr.

"My starting point will be the group of 26 players who played in the World Cup, and Cristiano Ronaldo is one of them", he underlined, while adding that he will make his decisions "on the ground " and "not in an office".

Because the top scorer in the history of the selections, close to reaching 200 matches with his country, lost his status as an indisputable holder in the middle of the World Cup.

And many observers doubt that he can stay at the level required by playing in the Saudi championship.

If he has already had big egos to manage within the Belgian selection, Martinez remains a discreet coach with a modest career as a player (as a defensive midfielder) which he lived mainly in England, in Wigan, Chester or Swansea.

>> DISCOVER HERE

- Zidane, questionable SMS, Mbappé ... Back to the latest controversies around Noël Le Graët

Third foreign coach

A lackluster CV that does not prevent "El Señor Roberto" from starting a successful coaching career.

In two seasons, he raised Swansea from the D4 to the English Championship and then managed for three seasons to keep little Wigan in the Premier League (2009-2013).

The consecration comes in the wake of a contract with Everton, a club far more prestigious than the previous ones and which he will bring to 5th place in the Premier League in his first season.

In August 2016, Belgium is looking for a successor to Marc Wilmots whose mandate ends with a mixed record, and an elimination experienced as a trauma in the quarter-finals of Euro-2016 against Wales.

The appointment of Martinez is a surprise, but for the Belgian federation, it is "love at first sight".

And, after the third place won at the 2018 World Cup, his contract was extended until 2022.

From the point of view of Portugal, if he is only the third foreign coach to take the reins of the Seleçao (after the Brazilians Otto Gloria in the 1960s and Luiz Felipe Scolari between 2002 and 2008), Martinez does not move away not much of Fernando Santos' profile.

A conservative coach, Martinez likes to rely on trusted men and cultivates a jargon which has not prevented him from maintaining good relations with the Belgian media.