16 Facts About Paulo Bento

Paulo Bento represented the Portugal national team in the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2000.

Paulo Bento managed the national teams of his country and South Korea for four years apiece, taking each team to a World Cup and continental tournament.

Paulo Bento won the junior championship in 2005, and developed a base to the future.

Paulo Bento was responsible for bringing youth products Nani, Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso into the spotlight.

Paulo Bento's team broke a number of long-standing club records, including the first season without home defeats since 1987, the first capture of back-to-back Portuguese cups since 1974 and the first time since 1962 that Sporting finished three consecutive campaigns in the top two league positions.

Paulo Bento quickly denied any speculation, and reaffirmed his intention to stay put.

Already the second-most successful coach in the history of the club in terms of trophies won, only surpassed by Jozsef Szabo, Paulo Bento gained the nickname "Cup-Eater" as a consequence of the four pieces of silverware added to the Estadio Jose Alvalade cabinet under his command.

That Champions League ousting marked the beginning of fan discontent towards Paulo Bento, especially regarding the team's playing style, which was perceived as becoming dull and unattractive, as presidential elections were to be held.

On 20 September 2010, following Queiroz's dismissal after a poor start to the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, Paulo Bento was named his successor, initially until the last match of that stage.

Paulo Bento led the national team to the Euro 2012 semi-finals in Poland and Ukraine, where they narrowly lost to eventual champions Spain on penalties.

Paulo Bento moved abroad for the first time in his managerial career on 11 May 2016, taking the helm at Brazil's Cruzeiro.

On 11 August 2016, Paulo Bento became the head coach of Super League Greece title holders Olympiacos.

Paulo Bento was sacked on 6 March 2017 with the team seven points clear at the top of the table and qualified for the semi-finals of the domestic cup and last 16 of the Europa League, mainly due to a string of poor performances in official competitions, a three-game losing streak in the league with no goals scored and various press conference comments targeting the "weakness" of certain squad members and the roster as a whole.

On 11 December 2017, Paulo Bento was appointed manager at Chongqing Dangdai Lifan.

On 17 August 2018, Paulo Bento was appointed manager of South Korea, with a contract to include the 2022 World Cup; he stated he would focus on 'proactive-style football' as his main strategy, emphasizing on Korea's longer communication of shorter passes and maintaining bigger possession and forwarding skills, which was considered a more unusual style of play as the team was previously used to playing defensively.

On 9 July 2023, Paulo Bento replaced Rodolfo Arruabarrena at the helm of the United Arab Emirates national side.