Costinha leaves Paços post
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
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"We have all failed," said Costinha after announcing his departure from UEFA Europa League challengers FC Paços de Ferreira, with his side lying bottom of the Portuguese table.
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FC Paços de Ferreira have parted company with coach Costinha after a sixth defeat in eight Liga matches, at home to fellow UEFA Europa League challengers Vitória SC on Monday night.
"There is no way for me to continue," the 38-year-old said after the 3-1 loss, which left his side at the foot of the table having picked up just four points. "I had already spoken with the president during the week and unfortunately things did not go well. We have all failed."
Though Sérgio Gaminho has been listed as Paços Ferreira coach for European games, Costinha has been picking the team, having replaced FC Porto-bound Paulo Fonseca at the helm in the summer. A midfielder in the Porto side that won the 2002/03 UEFA Cup and 2003/04 UEFA Champions League under José Mourinho, Costinha also played in France, Spain, Russia and Italy. He was sporting director at Sporting Clube de Portugal and Servette FC before taking charge of SC Beira-Mar last February.
After a surprising third-placed finish in the league last season, Paços were knocked out by FC Zenit in the UEFA Champions League play-offs, and are bottom of UEFA Europa League Group E going into an away match against FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on 7 November.
