Portugal 'poised to Appoint Mourinho'

Having left Chelsea prematurely, Jose Mourinho appears to have fast-forwarded his career plan and, according to reports in his homeland, will soon return to take charge of the Portuguese national team.

According to Sky Sports News, a "family source" has revealed that the Portuguese FA has already been in touch with Mourinho and a provisional agreement is believed to have been reached. The latest betting odds on him taking charge of his country have already been slashed from 14-1 to 3-1 this morning.

Mourinho has previously declared his desire to one day lead his country, but always insisted that it would be the crowning glory of a long and successful adventure in club management. "I would like to manage Portugal to finish my career," he said in January 2006. "I don't know, when I'm 60 years old, something like that. I want to have the chance. I was never an international as a player and to manage my country in a competition would be a special feeling."

Portugal are currently managed by Luiz Felipe Scolari but the Brazilian's job is in jeopardy, both because the team are struggling to qualify for Euro 2008 and because he has just been banned by Uefa for the remaining four matches of the campaign and fined €12,000 for his behaviour at the end of last week's home draw with Serbia, when he stomped on the pitch and seemingly threw a punch at Serbia's Ivica Dragutinovic.

Scolari is highly respected in Portugal having guided the team to the Euro 2004 final and the 2006 World Cup semi-final, but if there is one man with whom the country's FA could replace him without inviting criticism, it is Mourinho, whose achievements with Porto and Chelsea have made him one of the most popular personalities in Portugal.