Football in Portugal

After winning the first two matches in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying to top the Group H standings, Slovenia has had a less successful June slot in the qualifiers, falling to Finland 0:2 on the road and squeezing out a 1:1 draw at home against the group favourites Denmark.

An own goal sufficed for PAOK to record a precious 1-0 result at Olympiakos on Sunday, to go joint top of the Super League table with 13 points along with Atromitos. The Thessaloniki team extended its perfect record to five wins, but had started the season on minus two.

European champions Portugal suffered a first-half collapse and had Joao Cancelo sent off just past the hour in an embarrassing 3-0 World Cup warm-up defeat by the Netherlands on March 26.

Fernando Santos, who led Greece to the last 16 of the World Cup in Brazil, has been appointed Portugal's new head coach, the FPF announced on Tuesday.

Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş and Chelsea will play in a charity tournament on Aug. 8 at Istanbul’s Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium for the victims’ families of the Soma mining disaster. 

The three teams will each play two games on a night of three 45-minute matches.

Outgoing Greece coach Fernando Santos has clarified comments regarding his former players, praising their passion for soccer but lamenting the fact that they did not play with cooler heads during extra time of their second round World Cup match against Costa Rica, which led to the national side being eliminated from the tournament.

By Graham Wood

Outgoing Greece coach Fernando Santos has angered sections of the local media and soccer figures by claiming that some of his players were more interested in personal success than following instructions.

Greece lost on penalties against 10-man Costa Rica in their last 16 clash in Recife on Sunday, after the match had ended 1-1 in extra time.

By Toby Davis

RECIFE, Brazil - Greece coach Fernando Santos has challenged his team to "rewrite history" when they face Costa Rica in the World Cup's round of 16 on Sunday, but it is a lesson from his side's own past that is making him extra wary.

Greece will not take the challenge of Costa Rica lightly when they meet in the second round of the World Cup finals in Recife on Sunday, said coach Fernando Santos after he guided the Greeks to their first ever appearance in the knockout stages.

Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles has shown his newest tattoo, featuring the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, during a recent training for his team’s upcoming game at the World Cup in Brazil.

The former Chelsea and Liverpool player now calls Turkey his home, as he plays for Turkish football giants Fenerbahçe.