Sporting CP After an emotional 2004 retirement, aged 35, Bento got the job of Sporting's youth team coach. He won the junior championship in 2005, and developed a base to the future. After the sacking of
José Peseiro midway through
2005–06 season, he was promoted to first-team duties in spite of being relatively inexperienced. Despite a slow start, Bento managed an impressive turnaround of Sporting's fortunes in the second half of the campaign, as a series of ten consecutive wins placed them within distance of leaders and eventual league champions
Porto, as the former went on to rank second in that and the
following seasons, achieving direct
qualification for the
UEFA Champions League. He was responsible for bringing youth products
Nani,
João Moutinho and
Miguel Veloso into the spotlight. Bento signed a new two-year contract in June 2007. His side had a turbulent pre-season in preparation for
2007–08, with defense mainstays
Rodrigo Tello and
Marco Caneira leaving the club while Portuguese international goalkeeper
Ricardo was sold to
Real Betis. With little resources to invest, the club brought
Eastern promises –
Marat Izmailov,
Vladimir Stojković and
Simon Vukčević – aboard. After a very irregular season, Bento managed to lead the team to an unprecedented third consecutive
qualification for the Champions League, with another second-place finish in spite of spending most of the year below third, pipping Guimarães and Benfica in the final matchday. He also
retained the
Taça de Portugal, beating Porto in the final (2–0 after
extra time) after knocking-out eternal rivals Benfica in the last-four stage with a 5–3 win. 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. At the age of 38, he also became only the sixth manager in the history of Portuguese football to win back-to-back Portuguese cups, alongside the likes of
János Biri,
John Mortimore or
José Maria Pedroto. On 15 July 2008,
The Sun and
The Daily Telegraph reported that
Manchester United were planning to hire Bento (reportedly
Cristiano Ronaldo's friend and former teammate) as manager
Alex Ferguson's new assistant after the departure of previous number two
Carlos Queiroz to manage the Portugal national team. He quickly denied any speculation, and reaffirmed his intention to stay put. On 16 August 2008, Bento managed Sporting to a
2–0 victory in the
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira over champions Porto, at the opening of the new season. One of the players that were kept in the team despite heavy criticism,
Rui Patrício, was a key element and saved a
penalty from
Lucho González during the second half; this win raised the manager's tally in cup finals against counterpart
Jesualdo Ferreira to 3–0 (
2007 and 2008 Supercups, and the 2008 Portuguese Cup), and it also marked the first ever capture of back-to-back Portuguese Supercups in the
Lions' history. manager in 2009 Already the second-most successful coach in the history of the club in terms of trophies won, only surpassed by
József Szabó, Bento gained the nickname "Cup-Eater" as a consequence of the four pieces of silverware added to the
Estádio José Alvalade cabinet under his command. He led his team to a
1–0 home defeat of
Shakhtar Donetsk on 4 November 2008, therefore mathematically securing automatic qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in their history; in the process, they also broke the club's record number of points in
UEFA's main competition (nine) and remarkably did so with two matches to spare, becoming the first team to qualify from the group phase (alongside
Barcelona, from the same group). Later, Bento and Sporting also broke the record for most goals suffered by a team in a Champions League knockout round, following a 12–1 aggregate elimination at the hands of
Bayern Munich in the
round of 16. That Champions League ousting marked the beginning of fan discontent towards Bento, especially regarding the team's playing style, which was perceived as becoming dull and unattractive, as presidential elections were to be held. Supported by the winning candidate
José Eduardo Bettencourt, he signed a two-year contract extension; in spite of maintaining the same base squad and adding the talent of
Felipe Caicedo or
Matías Fernández, Sporting was unable to start the
new campaign brightly: knocked out in the
Champions League playoff round by
Fiorentina on away goals, the side's form slumped quickly and after nine matches they found themselves mired in seventh place, 12 points behind leaders
Braga. After a 1–1 home draw in the
Europa League group stage against
Ventspils on 5 November 2009, and facing considerable pressure to step down, Bento resigned.
Portugal On 20 September 2010, following Queiroz's dismissal after a poor start to the
Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, Bento was named his successor, initially until the last match of that stage. His first game in charge was on 8 October, a 3–1 win against
Denmark in
Porto. On 17 November 2010, Portugal defeated
World Cup champions Spain 4–0 in Lisbon, imposing the largest loss to its
Iberian neighbours since 13 June 1963 (6–2 against
Scotland, in another friendly). He led the national team to the Euro 2012 semi-finals in
Poland and
Ukraine, where they narrowly lost to eventual champions Spain on penalties. Bento led Portugal to a 4–2 aggregate victory over
Sweden in the playoffs after a second-place finish in the
2014 World Cup qualifiers, securing a spot at the
finals in Brazil. On 9 April 2014, he extended his contract until after
Euro 2016, but the national team exited in the World Cup's group stage in spite of a 2–1 win against
Ghana in the last match, with the
United States progressing on
goal difference instead. On 11 September 2014, after the
Euro 2016 qualifying campaign began with a 0–1 home defeat to
Albania, the
Portuguese Football Federation announced Bento had been fired.
Cruzeiro Bento moved abroad for the first time in his managerial career on 11 May 2016, taking the helm at Brazil's
Cruzeiro. His first game, ten days later, was a 2–2 draw at home to
Figueirense which continued his side's winless start to
the season. On 25 July 2016, Bento resigned from the club following a 1–2 home loss against
Sport Recife.
Olympiacos On 11 August 2016, Bento became the head coach of
Super League Greece title holders
Olympiacos. He 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.
Chongqing Dangdai Lifan On 11 December 2017, Bento was appointed manager at
Chongqing Dangdai Lifan. The following 22 July, he was relieved of his duties due to poor results.
South Korea On 17 August 2018, 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. At the
2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the side were eliminated 1–0 in the quarter-finals by eventual champions
Qatar. Bento led his team to the
2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship after a 1–0 defeat of
Japan. This marked the third time they won
the tournament, this being the second consecutive victory over that opposition. On 1 February 2022, with a 2–0 away win over
Syria, the Bento-led Taegeuk Warriors
qualified for that year's World Cup, the nation's tenth consecutive edition. On 23 November, in the finals in Qatar, he was booked in the group-stage fixture against
Uruguay for dissent near the end of the 0–0 draw. In the next match, a 3–2 loss to
Ghana, he was shown a red card for arguing with referee
Anthony Taylor after the final whistle. Having qualified for the round of 16 for the first time in 12 years with a 2–1 victory over his native Portugal, he lost 4–1 to
Brazil and left his post shortly after, stating he wanted to take a break and that the decision was made in September; he added he was proud of the team's accomplishments, and felt the squad was one of the best groups he had worked with.
United Arab Emirates On 9 July 2023, Bento replaced
Rodolfo Arruabarrena at the helm of the
United Arab Emirates national side. He won 4–1 on his debut on 12 September, a
friendly against
Costa Rica in
Zagreb. Bento and his staff were dismissed by the
United Arab Emirates Football Association on 26 March 2025, in spite of a 2–1 away defeat of
North Korea in the
World Cup qualifiers. ==Career statistics==