Charlie Key Roche Is The New Portugal Boss

For the next four years, Carlos Queiroz will be stepping out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s massive shadow at Old Trafford and onto the sidelines as the manager of the Portuguese National Team.

The deal, worth around three million Euros (which is like sixty eight billion US dollars at this point), will see Queiroz at the helm for the 2010 World Cup as well as the 2012 Euro. Barring any massive failures, of course. At this point massive failures would be a group stage exit at either tournament. Qualifying should be viewed as a given right now, as our profile in the world has risen considerably in the past two decades. To not make either tournament would be a major setback and a catastrophe that no head of the Portuguese Football Federation could possibly see through and justify keeping him on.

I’m not enamored with the move, but this is kinda sorta like a “there’s no one else astronomically awesome out there right now” type of choice, so I’m okay with it. Hell, if he wins silverware then I’ll shave the guy’s fucking back and spread Nutella all over him for all I care.

Crissy loves the guy and keeping your star happy is pretty important, so I’m sure that had some part to do with this. FPF president Gilberto Madail claims Queiroz was his first choice, so the spin coming out of the FPF is obviously an overwhelmingly positive one. It’s not as if they were chasing five or six guys who all chose to go elsewhere. They got a Chop with a positive youth coaching history and a murky senior team CV. Until the first tough friendly August 20th against the Faroe Islands in Aveiro, we won’t know much more of what to expect.