Dos Santos Won’t Be Coming To Atletico Ottawa

Atletico Ottawa’s search for its second-ever head coach won’t see Marc Dos Santos return to the capital city.

The Canadian Premier League is in need of a new boss after formally announcing the departure of head coach Mista yesterday, though whispers of his exit began in late November. The Spaniard guided the club to an 8-10-17 record across two seasons in the CPL, with the side finishing bottom of the league this year.

Fans had been eyeing Marc Dos Santos as a highly-touted CPL hire ever since he departed from the Vancouver Whitecaps in August, with his brother Phillip Dos Santos eventually landing with Valour FC.

While Marc Dos Santos had told us in November that he was looking to break ice for Canadian coaches abroad rather than looking inward, rumours of a potential return to Ottawa still ramped up after he had attended an Atletico Madrid match whilst completing the second portion of his UEFA Pro coaching license in Spain.

See Also: ‘I Left The Whitecaps In A Very Good Place’, Says Dos Santos

Speaking with Northern Tribune, the 44-year-old head coach has officially taken himself out of the running, stating that he is focused on obtaining his UEFA Pro license and that there was ‘no chance’ of a return to Ottawa right now.

“The people of Atletico are top class and the fans and city are incredible,” Dos Santos stated, “We probably enjoyed the best soccer nights of the city when I was with the Fury. But at the moment I decided to stay home, study, and wait to see what can come next.”

While a reunion may not be on the cards, it’s clear that the Portuguese-Canadian clearly has fond memories of his time spent coaching in the capital with the Ottawa Fury, whom he earned a Coach of the Year award with after guiding the club to a fall season NASL championship in 2015.

With Marc Dos Santos officially removing himself from the vacant CPL post, it’ll be interesting to see who Atletico Ottawa brings in for the 2022 Canadian Premier League season. There’s a lot of backing for Carmine Isacco to get a chance, though Atletico Ottawa obviously isn’t limited to the local Canadian market.

What’s next for Dos Santos also remains to be seen. He has clear aspirations to coach in Portugal, but told us in November that he won’t limit himself to certain markets, either: “I’m the kind of guy that you if you read tomorrow that I end up in Dubai or Japan, don’t be surprised, because it’s my nature. I want to do things that are different, that no other Canadian coach has done.”

With the first two portions of Marc’s coaching course having been completed in Northern Ireland and Spain respectively, the third and final portion of the invite-only course will take place in Switzerland this April.

After that, Marc Dos Santos will be ready for his next adventure. In the meantime, Atletico Ottawa fans will need to look elsewhere for their next head coach.