Roberto Martinez appointed as the new Belgium manager
Roberto Martinez has been appointed as the new manager of Belgium National Team. The 43-year-old was sacked by Everton just before their last game of the 2015/16 Premier League season and was hunting for a job ever since.
The former Everton and Wigan boss was linked with the vacancy at Hull City but it’s Belgium whom he’ll be leading into the World Cup 2018 qualifiers. The Spanish manager has signed a two-year deal with the Belgian FA.
Martinez is set to fly out to Belgium, where a press conference to formally introduce him to the media is due to take place on Thursday in Brussels. His first match will be against Spain in a friendly on September 1 in the Belgian capital.
The Red Devils were on the look out for new manager ever since they sacked Marc Wilmots . The Belgian was relieved of his duties after they got knocked out of EURO 2016 by semi-finalists, Wales.
The appointment of Roberto Martinez has sent shock waves across the Footballing World as nobody saw this coming. The Spaniard was named on a three-man shortlist for the vacant position at Hull after Steve Bruce left the club last month. The English media were heavily linking him with the job along with Chris Coleman or Gianfranco Zola.
This will be the first time Martinez takes charge of a National team. He has previously managed the likes of Swansea, Wigan and Everton. His only cup triumph came with when he won the FA Cup in 2013. the success in the FA Cup was enough for him to be appointed for the top job at Goodison Park despite getting relegated with Wigan in the same season.
Martinez's tenure at Everton started off in great style with the Toffees finishing fifth in the Premier League in his first season in charge. But since then, things have been worse than a roller coaster ride. The club have been struggling in the Premier League and other Domestic competitions. His tactics weren’t working out well and their form was very inconsistent.
Everton finished 11th in the 2014/15 and also the 2015/16 season but with a takeover of Farhad Moshiri at Goodison Park, the club felt that Martinez wasn’t the right person to take them forward.
Roberto Martinez has worked with 3 Belgian players during his time at Everton. Romelu Lukaku, Kevin Mirallas and Marouane Fellaini have worked under the Spaniard at Goodison Park and would be looking forward to his call when he announces the squad for the first time in final week of August.