Can you hear the drums, Fernando?
Saturday, July 9, 2016
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He never thought that they could lose. There's no regret. EURO2016.com and ABBA help to unlock the mystery of Portugal's gravel-voiced coach Fernando Santos.
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In the ABBA song Fernando, released in 1976, two veterans reminisce about their part in some unspecified struggle of national liberation. One can only imagine what songs might be sung in years to come if Portugal's own Fernando – coach Fernando Santos – leads his rugged band of outsiders to success in the UEFA EURO 2016 final.
Fernando Manuel Fernandes da Costa Santos, to give him his full name, is on the verge of something special. But then again, he always knew it was going to happen.
"We aren't going there just to be part of it, we're going there to win," the Portugal boss declared back in March. That was a reasonable enough statement, though the bit where he said "I've told my family to expect me back on 11 July" raised a few eyebrows – and looked like very wishful thinking following Portugal's manic 3-3 Group F draw with Hungary.
Few are mocking the 61-year-old Lisboner now. The gravel-voiced Fernando Santos has had a long life in coaching, but his expedition to France has been his greatest adventure yet.
Known as 'O Engenheiro' (the engineer) in Portugal, he had a feel for maths and electronics as a boy – he was a qualified electrician at 15 – but also displayed another talent: football. At 16, he signed youth terms as a full-back with Benfica, yet spent his entire 14-year senior playing career at nearby Estoril, save for a solitary term with Marítimo in Madeira.
Solid rather than startling as a player, he kept up his studies, gaining a degree in engineering, and that methodical approach informed his work as a coach. He flitted between Portugal and Greece and became one of the select band of techicians to have occupied the dug-out at all of Portugal's 'big three' – Sporting CP, Benfica and Porto.
After leading Porto to their fifth consecutive league title in 1999, he was dubbed 'O Engenheiro do Penta' (the engineer of the fifth), and he was a hit in Greece too, eventually taking charge of their national team and steering them to the knockout phase at both UEFA EURO 2012 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Following Paulo Bento's departure in 2014, Portugal chose Santos as his replacement, with his emerging side assuming some of his personal characteristics. Obsessive about detail, unsmiling and deeply religious – he could be seen praying during Portugal's penalty shoot-out against Poland – he has forged a team in his own image: spirited, dignified, determined.
Now undefeated in 13 competitive games, Santos's Selecção add up to more than the sum of their parts. His players may not have believed when he insisted they were going all the way at this EURO, but Santos did not budge. That resilience, that single-mindedness, could yet earn Portugal their greatest triumph yet.
Sunday's coming soon. There may be something in the air that night.