Sacramento: "I Left LASK for My Family"

LASK sensationally finished last season as double winners under Didi Kühbauer. After nine games under Joao Sacramento, the club was in second-to-last place. The Portuguese then resigned.

Officially, Sacramento left the club because an employee was dismissed for disciplinary reasons. The 37-year-old reportedly left out of "loyalty."

The Real Reason

Now, the former LASK coach speaks to Portuguese newspaper "Record" and reveals a completely different reason.

"What I'm about to tell you is not publicly known, but I think it's time and I can tell people. I had two extremely important points in my life that happened simultaneously. One was the opportunity to become a head coach, but it coincided exactly with the time I became a father."

"So what happened? I became a father, and just five days later I had to leave my family to become a coach. I was aware that something like this could happen," Sacramento reveals.

Sacramento hesitated about LASK job

The Portuguese hesitated to accept the role in Linz at the time. "Together with my wife, I decided to accept the offer because the club really wanted me. Five days after my son's birth, I had to leave him to go to Austria. I didn't see him for two months. That was very difficult, truly very difficult," the ex-LASK coach admits.

The situation was especially difficult for his wife and son. They were on their own. "The family couldn't help due to logistical difficulties," Sacramento reveals.

LASK Exit for Family

Accordingly, a decision was made. "I left LASK for my family. I didn't want to regret later having missed my child's development and growing up during this early stage of life. Furthermore, I felt that my wife really needed me during that time," explains the Portuguese.

However, the story about an employee's dismissal was not fabricated. But the main reason for the exit was different: "It's true, there was a problem with a member of my coaching staff who was dismissed by the club for reasons I didn't consider sufficient."

"Ultimately, that helped me take the final step in my decision. But the main reason for my decision was the other one."

Head Coach Clause

Sacramento is now assistant coach for the Morocco national team, reaching the World Cup quarter-finals with the North Africans. However, his career as a head coach could restart.

"I have a contract with Morocco, but from the beginning, I was very honest with them. I have a clause that allows me to leave at any time if I want to become a head coach. That's the agreement we made, and that's the future project I have in mind," said the ex-LASK coach.