Today’s match against Estonia holds significant importance not only for the Azerbaijani national team but also for their head coach, Fernando Santos.
As reported by Idman.biz, the upcoming match in Gabala is crucial, as failing to win will extend the team’s winless or losing streak to five games under the leadership of the Portuguese coach.
However, Santos remains unfazed by such a potential setback. The 70-year-old coach has consistently assured the media that "everything will be good" and refers to his 3+1 year contract when discussing the future, dismissing any possibility of resignation.
Prior to Azerbaijan, Santos had a short tenure at Beşiktaş, where he was dismissed after a series of three consecutive defeats followed by two draws. Despite this, he has never faced such a losing streak during his coaching of the Greek (2010-2014), Portuguese (2014-2022), or Polish (2023) national teams. Santos has also encountered losing streaks at various clubs, including three consecutive losses at Portuguese and Greek clubs. His worst losing streak came in 2008 with PAOK, where after four losses in a row, they finally secured a 3-0 victory, finishing the season in 9th place.
As for the Azerbaijani national team, their longest losing streak was 11 consecutive defeats, which occurred during the period of financial struggles at AFFA and the restrictions imposed during the war in 1994-1995.
Subsequent failures were linked to foreign coaches. Under Berti Vogts, Azerbaijan lost seven games in a row in 2009 and six games between 2010-2011, but the German coach continued in his role. Ultimately, he resigned in 2014 after four consecutive defeats. Between 2019-2020, Croatian Nikola Jurčević ended his tenure following three straight losses, while under Canni De Biagio in 2021, the team endured two separate four-match losing streaks. Despite this, the Italian coach managed to stay in his position until the end of 2023.
Rasim
Idman.biz
