Luís Freire replaces Rui Jorge as Portugal under-21 coach | OneFootball

Rui Jorge’s long tenure as coach of Portugal’s under-21 team has come to an end. Former Rio Ave and Vitória SC coach Luís Freire has been appointed as his successor.

During Jorge’s decade and half in charge, Portugal came close to winning the U21 European Championship twice, finishing runners-up after losing in the final to Sweden in 2015 and Germany in 2023.

Although his teams played an attractive brand of attacking football and Jorge was praised for preparing a raft of youngsters for the senior team, the lack of silverware has always been held against him.

Losing against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of this summer’s U21 Euro despite playing most of the match against ten men proved the last straw. New Portuguese Football Federation head Pedro Proença decided not to renew Jorge’s contract which ended this summer.

Proença says that Luís Freire is the right profile for the FPF’s ambitious project at this level, with the 39-year-old being set the twin targets of winning Euro 2027 and qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games.

Born in Ericeira, Freira has built a fine reputation having patiently worked himself up the Portuguese football ladder.

Starting at his hometown club Ericeirense, Freire went on to coach Pêro Pinheiro, Mafra, Estoril Praia and Nacional da Madeira, leading his teams to promotion in 6 of his first 8 years as a head coach.

The impressive body of work subsequently landed him jobs at top-flight clubs Rio Ave and Vitória Sport Clube.