Alexandre Santos has been appointed the new head coach of Nacional in Portugal's Primeira Liga, the club's president Rui Alves confirmed to the Lusa news agency on Friday. Alves said the details of the contract would be announced on Monday, when the 49-year-old Portuguese coach is officially presented.
Santos arrives to replace João Gião, who was dismissed after four league matchdays in which Nacional recorded one win, one draw and two defeats. The last of those losses, a 3-2 defeat to Estrela da Amadora on Sunday, prompted the club's decision to part ways with Gião.
Santos's coaching career
Santos began his coaching career as an assistant, working under José Peseiro among others, before taking his first job as a head coach at Real SC. He has since managed at senior level with Alverca in Portugal, Petro de Luanda in Angola, CS Sfaxien in Tunisia, FAR Rabat in Morocco and, most recently, Kuwait SC.
Real Sport Clube, commonly known as Real SC, is a Portuguese club based in Massamá, near Lisbon. Nacional itself is based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, and competes in Portugal's top flight, the Primeira Liga.
Interim charge and league standing
In the interim, Nacional have been led by Bruno Abreu, the club's junior team coach. The team currently sit 10th in the Primeira Liga table, level on points with ninth-placed Sporting Braga, who have played two fewer matches, and 11th-placed Moreirense, who have played one fewer match.
What comes next
Nacional's next fixture comes before Santos's official presentation, when they travel to face Sporting, who sit second in the table with 10 points, on Saturday at 20:30. The match is part of the fifth round of the Primeira Liga and will be played at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon, with João Pinheiro of the Braga football association as referee.
