Katsouranis on record about Santos: ‘He’s my football dad, the most important person in my career’

Portugal defeated Switzerland, qualified for the “8” of the 2022 World Cup and the architect of this effort was our team Fernando Santos.

The 68-year-old veteran coach, who left his mark on Greek football and became the first Portuguese coach to win a knockout match at a World Cup, has everyone’s respect.

THE Kostas Katsouranis who played under his tutelage for AEK, Benfica and the Greek national team wrote in Record about the Santos man but also the secret of his success.

In fact, he described him as a “football dad” and stated that he was a reference point in his career.

“Today is a special day for me. I woke up happy because of a football match, which I feel less since I ended my football career. The reason was Fernando Santos’ Portugal victory.

It was the win that secured your national team qualification for the Quarterfinals. I’m happy about the win, the result, the performance, the effort, a result that makes the Portuguese optimistic about the future.

Santos was my coach from 2004 to 2014 at AEK, at Benfica, at the Greek national team. He’s my football dad, the most important person in my career. I created the account a few days ago and played 150 games under his guidance. There were times I was angry with him for benching me or taking me out of a game early, but the admiration and respect I have for the man and coach Santos has never been compromised.

That’s the main reason I’m very happy today. I know the last few years have not been easy for Fernando Santos, with a lot of criticism from people who don’t know him and have no idea of ​​the difficulties of leading a group of footballers as ambitious and talented as the Portugal national team.

Santos has an advantage over anyone who criticizes him. He knows his team better than anyone, knows each player’s strengths and weaknesses. He knows how to approach the players and no one has the career of Santos behind him, of having coached the ‘big ones’ of Portugal, three of the biggest clubs in Greece, but of being coaches of two different countries.

He wouldn’t be able to do all of this if he wasn’t so competitive. Santos is the coach that makes the players believe. He made me believe because he made me a better player and a better person than I was. He has experience and needs rest.

What he does is think about the team altruistically, without personal games or team politics. The fantastic win against Switzerland started with a very difficult and courageous decision in the team structure.

If Portugal lost, we don’t know who would have “thrown” them on the coach. But once again Santos was thinking of the team’s interest and not his own vision. So it deserves all the good things.”

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