The Curious Case of Carlos Queiroz & His Portuguese Adventure

The final whistle had blown at St. Jakob-Park and with the score-line of 3-2 so did Portugal’s hopes of winning Euro 2008. It had only been a few days earlier that Luiz Felipe Scolari, Portugal’s manager since 2003, had announced that his tenure with Portugal would conclude at the end of the tournament after accepting an offer from the English Premier League side Chelsea F.C. Some of us were very critical of Scolari’s abrupt decision to commit his future to a different employer in the middle of the tournament especially before encountering an experienced German side. What perplexed us even more with his timing was that before the 2006 World Cup had started, Mr. Scolari was approached by the English Football Association about taking over the 3 Lions where he declined and proclaimed that it would be wrong for him to discuss such an endeavor as he was currently employed by Portugal.

Anyhow, I suppose he didn’t see the difference this time around or saw the offer as being too lucrative to get away. Perhaps his timing may have negatively influenced the Portuguese side which fell to eventual runners’ up Germany, but Scolari had more than a right to make such decision as he had given so much to Portuguese football. However, with his exit, the Portuguese FA were now daunted with the task of replacing their most successful manager (Scolari had led Portugal to a European Cup final, World Cup semi-final and another European quarter-final). The man finally chosen to take over the mantel was someone all-too familiar with the national team and pressures that come with such a position.

Carlos Queiroz was presented to the national media on July 11^th 2008 as Portugal’s new manager which marked his second tenure at the helm. Queiroz had famously led a group of youngsters during the late 80s and early 90s to FIFA World Youth championships, a group compiled of individuals who would form the so-called “golden-generation” of Portuguese football. Queiroz’s success at the youth level led to his appointment as Selecçao manager; however, he was unsuccessful in guiding Portugal to both the 1992 European Championship and 1994 FIFA World Cup. With the disappointment of not qualifying, Queiroz’s tenure with the team didn’t end on great terms. For the next decade, Queiroz saw his career jump around the globe with his immediate destination after the national team to Portugal’s Sporting C.P, one of Portugal’s 3 largest clubs. There he enjoyed moderate success; however, his time there was scarred by a number of poor tactical decisions which many blasted for significantly impacting several crucial results. 

Queiroz guided Portugal’s youngsters to silverware on several occasions.

His expertise then took him to the United States, where he not only managed the MLS’ MetroStars, but also helped shape the U.S FA’s youth development. This project was geared to transform U.S soccer from modest dreamers to contenders on the world stage by the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Following his time with the MetroStars, his career took him to Japan where he managed Nagoya Grampus Eight for a season until he finally returned to manage international football with Saudi Arabia. His tenure with the Saudi’s was merely momentary as he soon joined South Africa as their national team manager. With SA, he managed to lead them to 2002 World Cup qualification; however, a falling out with FA officials led to his resignation before the start of the tournament.

It was that summer in 2002 where Mr. Queiroz received an offer from Sir Alex Ferguson to join him as his assistant at Manchester United. Queiroz immediately helped the team to a Premier League title and his work didn’t go unnoticed with Real Madrid deciding to knock on his door. Real Madrid posed a new challenge for the Portuguese and he was quick to accept it. After a relatively good start, Real Madrid’s season seemed to go down the drain. The entire season was marked with disappointing results and futile attempts by Queiroz to reinforce his defense. Real Madrid finished the season in 4^th place having disappointed also in the UEFA Champions League and only being able to win the Spanish Supercup. Queiroz was subsequently removed as manager at the end of the season and within a few months had agreed to return to his old post at Manchester United.

Many thought Queiroz was the likely successor to Ferguson’s throne at Old Trafford.

Queiroz couldn’t have returned at a better time. His experience with Real Madrid was quite a negative one given the expectations put on him and the side which led many to blame him and his tactics for Real Madrid’s poor performance. At Manchester United, he was yet again given a chance to redeem himself and establish his value. Queiroz’s partnership with Sir Alex allowed him special privileges and as a matter of fact he even took control of the team during certain matches. Although some voiced their concern over such actions, for the most part the entire squad valued their number 2 highly to go as far as crediting him for much of their success. From 2004-2008, Manchester United went on to win 2 Premier League titles, 1 League Cup, 1 FA Community Shield and the UEFA Champions League. Along those years, Queiroz was credited for helping develop youngsters like Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney along with helping capture the signings of Anderson and Nani.

Queiroz’s success during his 2^nd tenure with Manchester United led to interest from various clubs including SL Benfica, who he turned down after 2 inquiries by the club over those 4 years. Queiroz was then presented with the idea of managing the Selecçao for a 2^nd time. With Luiz Felipe Scolari leaving for Chelsea, the Portuguese national team was left with a vacancy and with only a few potential candidates; they chose the person who they thought to have the most familiarity with the subsequent project. Thus, we’ve come full circle to his appointment on July 11^th of 2008.

The second Queiroz era began comfortably with a set of friendly victories and a 4-0 victory over Malta in their first FIFA WC qualification match. Portugal then began showing difficulties especially during their match against Denmark which was lost in the last few minutes after leading throughout the match. Even worse, Portugal travelled to Brasilia where they would confront Brazil in a friendly and were thrashed 6-2 despite scoring first. Fans and media, who were already very critical given how qualifying was going, were for the lack of a better word furious with Queiroz after being embarrassed by their South American relatives. The tension began to grow across the squad and their captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who since his World Player of the Year triumph has carried a heavy burden upon his shoulders. The Portuguese people look to him to create goals and win games for the Selecçao, a task that has proved to be very difficult for him since Luis Figo departed from the ranks.

Queiroz & Portugal endured a difficult time during qualification.

Although fans piled up the blame on Queiroz and Ronaldo for the lack of goals, this has been no surprise to anyone who has followed the Selecçao over the past decade. Time and time again, it has been the lack of goals despite dominant possession which has cursed the Portuguese. Queiroz’s attempt to open up the attack only led to further punishment especially when you try these new offensive tactics against a side like Brazil who are playing at home. As a matter of fact, it was after that match that Queiroz decided to effectively change his tactics and adopt a counter-defensive one. The results weren’t pretty and the fans were still on his back, but they worked. Portugal did have to participate in a play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina without their captain Cristiano Ronaldo, but they managed to rise out of their initial plight to secure a place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Perhaps it was time to give Queiroz a blank-slate, because despite the initial short-comings he still managed to qualify Portugal for only its 4^th World Cup appearance ever.

The honey moon period lasted until May 2010, only a month before the tournament. Queiroz delivered a presentation declaring his 24-man roster for the tournament in what seemed a bit extravagant. Queiroz was immediately criticized for loading the roster with defensive players with initially 6 center backs and ultimately lowered to 5 (Castro was sent home once Pepe was deemed fit to continue). Queiroz was also left with the misfortune of not having Bosingwa, Rúben Micael, Varela and Nani who all sustained injuries prior to the tournament. Nani’s exclusion came only a week before kick off and only further dented Portuguese dreams as he was recognized by many as their best in-form player given his recent performances for his club and also during the initial pre-World Cup friendlies.

Queiroz & Ronaldo weren't on the same page in Portugal's QF defeat to Spain.

Portugal’s first match came up against the Ivory Coast in which Queiroz opted for a 4-3-3 with Liedson occupying the lone striker role with Ronaldo and Danny occupying the wings. Deco occupied the center of the midfield along with Raul Meireles and Pedro Mendes. At the back, Ricardo Carvalho and Bruno Alves were positioned as center backs with Paulo Ferreira occupying the right fullback role and on his opposite side Fabio Coentrão with Eduardo occupying the net. Portugal took few chances against an Ivorian side that was without Didier Drogba until late in the second half due to a broken hand injury. The Ivorian keeper was only threatened once when Ronaldo blasted a shot from 40-meters only to hit the crossbar and it was the Ivorians who nearly shocked the Portuguese towards the end but the match was destined to end at 0-0. 

Portugal annihilated North Korea 7-0.

Queiroz was immediately flooded with criticism from not only the Portuguese media but also the international media and by fellow World Cup managers; Dunga, the Brazilian manager, was one who took a few decent shots at his tactics. Against North Korea, Portugal were presented an opponent who had pushed themselves to fall only 2-1 to a talented Brazilian side who had come into the tournament highly favored. Queiroz made a few changes as he removed Deco, Danny and Paulo Ferreira to replace them with Tiago, Simão and Miguel. The switch seemed to provide Portugal with more an attacking edge as they were able to assault the North Korean side and strike 7 times. Portugal now looked more like the beautiful footballing side everyone thought they were. However, Queiroz simply used this match to ease media tension as he reverted back to a defensive approach against Brazil. 

Queiroz's reason for a defensive approach against Brazil was rather obvious and simple to him, both sides were virtually guaranteed a place with Brazil already sure and Portugal only needing a draw. Now besides the fact that Portugal had an opportunity to win the group and avoid facing off against eventual winners and defending Euro champs Spain... wait that's important! Queiroz either didn't see that or he just didn't care. He played his safe card and made a few alterations to his squad one of which involved inputting a 3rd different RB into his team. This time Ricardo Costa was chosen since his exposure to the German Bundesliga provided the squad an aggressive edge despite being a natural CB. The game went as planned for Queiroz and Portugal drew and went through to face Spain.

Villa scores the winning goal for Spain.

Against Spain, Queiroz fielded the same team that had beaten North Korea with one exception; he decided to field Ricardo Costa yet again. He reasoned once more that his aggressiveness would prove useful at RB. At this point before the match, I was perplexed. Ricardo Costa, as I said before, is a CB and not a RB or WB thus he is playing out of position. Miguel seemed more like a reasonable option given his experience in La Liga where he has played against every player on the Spanish roster and if he didn't play against them, he had played with them. However, Queiroz seemingly knew better but once again took a defensive approach against a team that many feared playing open against. Fair enough and Portugal faired well early on until late in the 2nd half Queiroz decided to take off Hugo Almeida for Danny. Basically, this put Cristiano Ronaldo at the ST position and Danny went over to the wing; at this point Ronaldo began yelling at Queiroz for changing the tactical formation. 

Spain was virtually tipped off easily by Queiroz that Portugal were indeed playing for penalties at that point. The Spanish defense who had earlier been bothered by the presence of Almeida, no longer had that nuance and began pushing their line up. Within moments, Spain grabbed their goal and Portugal preceded to attack in lack-luster style to no avail. Ricardo Costa was then sent off for a phantom elbow and Portugal's World Cup hopes were all but done. 

The Portuguese players felt they weren't able to give their all against Spain.

Ronaldo refused to speak after the match telling members of the media to discuss whatever questions they had with Queiroz. Queiroz defended himself and his team saying that losing to Spain 1-0 is nothing to be disappointed about. However, it was something to be disappointed about, because Portugal lost in a way that was against their footballing culture. Queiroz was attempting to mimic his compatriot José Mourinho but fell way short in doing so, because Queiroz's tactics were too simple and had very little detail or direction to them. Portugal only once organized a counter-attack that rattled Spain and even that was a surprise considering that Portugal are not a team that plays well of lobbing the ball down the field. 

Within a few months, Portugal began 2012 European Qualification, it was during that time Queiroz was abruptly suspended for "interrupting during doping exams a few weeks before the World Cup". Under the suspension, he would be suspended for 6 months and thus miss out on qualifying matches for Portugal. In order to attend matches, Queiroz would have to pay for a ticket just like every other person and was not allowed to communicate with coaches or players during the matches. In the mean time, he was preparing his appeal and desire to fight off these accusations in order to resume his work. However, in reality, his time was up after that final whistle blew in South Africa. 

For months, the Portuguese fans, players and several members in the administration were calling for him to resign. Many of these people were also the same people who thought he should have never been given another opportunity and many just wanted a scape goat for failing to achieve the Portuguese dream. One way or the other, they would find a way to axe him and so they did. Queiroz would be fired by the governing body of Portuguese football citing amongst many things his current situation as being unsustainable for the team. In fact, they were correct; Queiroz's situation had put the team in an even worse position and their 2012 Euro Qualification had taken rough start with Portugal drawing and losing a match. Portugal would appoint a new manager immediately with Paulo Bento taking control of the team with the backing the administration and fellow Portuguese manager José Mourinho, who consulted the FPF during this moment of uncertainty. 

Paulo Bento presented as the new manager of Portugal.

Thus, the Queiroz era in Portugal came to an end. Over the next several months, Queiroz would be acquitted of the charges put on him in the doping scandal and would once again be eligible to work. However, the damage to his career had been done and he was once again on the other end of a bad break-up. Queiroz's mistakes during qualification for the World Cup and through the World Cup will highlight his tenure; however, he did manage to salvage Portugal's World Cup campaign by constructing a stable defense and midfield trio who were very stingy in regards to allowing goals. Despite that, Queiroz was tactically out of his league at this stage and angered many when scouting potential players for caps when he was on the trail of Brazilian youngsters Fabio and Rafael, although in his defense, were eligible to play for Portugal. 

Queiroz recently agreed to become the new manager of the Iranian football team and will try to get them to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. I wish him the best of luck in accomplishing his tasks and becoming a successful senior international manager. After all, that's what Carlos has been attempting to do for over 20 years. He's proven that he is an exceptional youth manager and great number 2, but is keen on more. Perhaps that's his problem, he just isn't content with being a great manager at the youth level, the point in the careers of these young prospects that makes or breaks their progression. Carlos Queiroz has influenced the careers of many great young players today, but yet again that isn't enough for him. However, in a world and time when going out and getting more is valued so much, who can blame him?