Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte was unveiled on Monday (3 May 2021) as the coach of Togo national football team, The Sparrowhawks.
Two years after leaving Burkina Faso Stallions, Duarte will now be Togo tactician. He was chosen from a shortlist that included Alain Giresse, Laurent Roussey, Hugo Broos, and Paul Put.
Duarte guided Burkina Faso to third place in the Total Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon 2017. He will succeed Claude Le Roy who resigned last April. Meanwhile, the Portuguese will not join the Sparrowhawks until August, when his contract with Angolan club Primeiro Agosto expires.
Duarte (52) guided Burkina Faso in two spells (2008-2012 and 2015-2019) and took charge of Gabon (2012-2013). He was also the coach of Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien in 2015.
His task will be bringing Togo back to the continental front after missing two consecutive Total AFCON editions (2019 and 2021).
He will also lead the Sparrowhawks in the FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022 qualifiers, where Togo will face Senegal, Congo and Namibia in Group H. The U-20 national team coach Jonas Kokou Komla will be in charge of the first team on interim basis till Duarte takes his place in August.
