Austin MacPhee has landed a new role as the assistant coach of Portugal, which he will combine with his current position as Aston Villa set piece coach.
MacPhee previously combined his position at Villa with a similar role at Scotland but was forced to reduce the workload in September due to his father’s illness.
The 45-year-old’s intentions were to remain away from the international scene but his family circumstances have since changed and he viewed the opportunity to join the Portugal setup too good to turn down.
Roberto Martinez wanted the Scotsman to join his staff and replace Anthony Barry who has linked up with Thomas Tuchel as the new assistant manager of England.
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For the past five months MacPhee has been working solely in the West Midlands as part of the extensive coaching team under manager, Unai Emery, where he has played a key role in the coaching setup.
A number of other international teams registered an interest in MacPhee before Portugal agreed a deal that will run until at least the end of the 2026 World Cup.
Helping prepare the nation for the tournament in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will now be a priority for MacPhee when he links up with his latest international team. In 2016 he was the assistant to Michael O’Neil during Northern Ireland’s European Championships campaign and last year he also worked as the set-piece coach for Scotland at Euro 2024.
MacPhee will start working with Martinez in March when Portugal face Denmark in the quarter finals of the Nations League.
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(Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
