Roberto Martinez is quitting his role as Portugal head coach after Monday’s 1-0 FIFA World Cup round-of-16 loss to Spain, Yankee Scores reports.
However, the Spanish manager denied the outing was “a failure”.
Cristiano Ronaldo made his last World Cup appearance as substitute Mikel Merino netted in the 91st minute at AT&T Stadium to send Spain into the last eight.
Martinez was appointed in 2023 and his contract was set to expire after the tournament.
Martínez Walks Away
In a post match news conference he said it “wouldn’t make sense” to continue in the role, having also been eliminated in the quarterfinals at Euro 2024.
“Yes, this is my last game with the national team,” Martinez said. “I’m proud. I’ve had 45 games, and I felt welcomed in Portugal, and loved. It’s a memory I’ll take with me always.
“It was a pleasure, a source of pride, and responsibility. It’s hard, but it’s the end of a cycle and in the context it makes absolute sense.”
Martinez had previously managed Wigan, Everton and Swansea before taking the Portugal job and also coached Belgium.
“We Didn’t Fail”
Portugal had one of the most gifted squads of the World Cup, with the midfield of Vitinha, João Neves and Bruno Fernandes, and Ronaldo in attack, but Martínez dismissed the idea that elimination in the round of 16 was a failure.
“We didn’t fail,” he said. “We lost a game, against a team that’s one of the favourites. We showed incredible individual talent. Winning or losing is about details in the big games, with big teams…You fail when you don’t try to win, and we tried to win until the last minute.”
“It’s not just Portugal,” Martinez added. “There aren’t many countries that consistently get to the latter stages of World Cups. It’s very difficult to be consistent and qualify always.
“There are things that make the difference, like a ball that hits the woodwork. These are things that decide World Cups.”
Why Martínez Refused to Bench Cristiano Ronaldo
Martinez also backed his decision to keep Ronaldo, 41, on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes.
“When you’re a team and you need a goal, you can’t take Cristiano Ronaldo off,” he said. “He can play 90 minutes, no problem.
“He’s a presence, he opens space, with a deadball situation, anything in the box, it would make no sense [to substitute him]. In extra time it probably would have made sense to use Gonçalo Ramos. But we had to keep the structure, it wasn’t the case to take your top scorer off during the 90 minutes.”
