José Mourinho
Encyclopedia
José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho (ʒuˈzɛ moˈɾiɲu; born 26 January 1963 in Setúbal
) is a Portuguese
football manager
and the current manager of Real Madrid
. He is commonly known as "The Special One".
Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches and critics as the best ever coach
in football.
Mourinho started out as a player but he was unable to forge a meaningful career in the game and eventually switched to management. After spells working as an assistant manager and a youth team coach in the early 1990s, he became an interpreter for Sir Bobby Robson
. There he worked with him at Sporting Clube de Portugal and Porto in Portugal, before following him to Spanish club Barcelona
. He remained in the Catalonia
n club after Robson's departure and worked with the successor, Louis van Gaal
.
He began focusing on coaching and impressed with brief but successful managerial periods at Benfica and União de Leiria. He returned to Porto in 2002, this time as head coach, winning the Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal
, and UEFA Cup in 2003. In 2004 Mourinho guided the team to the top of the league for a second time and won the highest honour in European club football, the UEFA Champions League
.
Mourinho moved to Chelsea
the following year and won two consecutive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006. He often courted controversy for his outspokenness, but his victories at Chelsea and Porto established him as one of the world's top football managers.
In mid-2008 he moved to Italy
's Serie A
, signing a three-year contract with Internazionale
. Within three months he had won his first Italian honour, the Supercoppa Italiana
, and completed his first season in Italy by winning the Serie A league title. Mourinho followed on from that the next season by winning the first treble in Italian history, the Serie A league title, Coppa Italia
, and the UEFA Champions League, thus becoming the third manager in football history to win two UEFA Champions League with two different teams, after Ernst Happel and Ottmar Hitzfeld
.
Due to these achievements he won the first ever FIFA Ballon d'Or
Best Coach Award in 2010.
On 28 May 2010, his appointment as head coach at Real Madrid was confirmed, signing a four-year contract. His first honour with the team was winning the 2011 Copa del Rey Final
, the first time Madrid had won the competition since 1993
.
, Portugal, the son of Félix Mourinho
and wife Maria Júlia Carrajola dos Santos. His father played football professionally for Os Belenenses and Vitória de Setúbal
, earning one cap for Portugal
in the course of his career. His mother was a primary school teacher from an affluent background; her uncle funded the construction of the Vitória de Setúbal football stadium. The fall
of António de Oliveira Salazar
's Estado Novo regime in April 1974, however, led to the family losing all but a single property in nearby Palmela
.
From an early age, football was a major part of Mourinho's life. Footballing commitments in Porto
and Lisbon
meant that Félix was often separated from his son. As a teenager, Mourinho travelled to attend his father's weekend matches and when his father had became a coach
, Mourinho began observing training sessions and scouting opposing teams. Mourinho wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father by becoming a footballer and so he joined the Belenenses youth team. Graduating to the senior level, he played at Rio Ave (where his father was coach), Belenenses, and Sesimbra. He lacked the requisite pace and power to become a professional and chose to focus on becoming a football coach instead.
His mother enrolled him in a business school, Mourinho dropped out on his first day, deciding he would rather focus on sport, and chose to attend the Instituto Superior de Educação Física (ISEF), Technical University of Lisbon
, to study sports science
. He taught physical education
at various schools and after five years, he had earned his diploma, receiving consistently good marks throughout the course. After attending coaching courses held by the English and Scottish Football Associations, former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh
took note of the young Portuguese's drive and attention to detail. Mourinho sought to redefine the role of coach in football by mixing coaching theory with motivational and psychological techniques.
. Mourinho yearned for greater challenges and in 1992 an opportunity arose to work as a translator for a top foreign coach. Sir Bobby Robson
had been appointed as the new manager of Lisbon
club Sporting Clube de Portugal and the Englishman required a local coach with a good command of English to work as his interpreter.
Initially a step away from management, Mourinho began discussing tactics and coaching with Robson in his interpreting role. Robson was sacked by Sporting in December 1993, but Portuguese rivals FC Porto appointed him as their head coach and Mourinho moved with him, continuing to coach and interpret for players at the new club. After two years at Porto the duo moved again, switching to FC Barcelona
in 1996, where he learnt Catalan
for the new challenge. Mourinho and his family moved to Barcelona
and he gradually became a prominent figure of Barcelona's staff by translating at press conferences, planning practice sessions, and helping players through tactical advice and analyses of the opposition. Robson and Mourinho's styles complemented each other: the Englishman favoured an attacking style, while Mourinho covered defensive options, and the Portuguese's love of planning and training combined with Robson's direct man-management. The partnership was fruitful and Barcelona finished the season with the European Cup Winners' Cup
. Robson moved club the following season but this time Mourinho did not follow as Barcelona were keen to retain him as assistant manager. The two remained good friends and Mourinho later reflected on the effect Robson had had upon him:
He began working with Robson's successor, Louis van Gaal
, and he learnt much from the Dutchman
's conscientious style. Both assistant and head coach combined their studious approach to the game and Barcelona won La Liga
twice in van Gaal's first two years as coach. Van Gaal saw that his number two had the promise to be more than a skilled assistant. He let Mourinho develop his own independent coaching style and entrusted him with the coaching duties of FC Barcelona B. Van Gaal also let Mourinho take charge of the first team (acting as Mourinho's assistant himself) for certain trophies, like the Copa Catalunya, which Mourinho won in 2000.
side Benfica to replace head coach Jupp Heynckes
after the fourth week of the Primeira Liga. The Benfica hierarchy wanted to appoint Jesualdo Ferreira
as the new assistant coach, but Mourinho refused and picked Carlos Mozer
, a retired Benfica defender, as his right-hand man instead.
Mourinho was highly critical of Ferreira, whom he had first encountered as his teacher at ISEF and later lambasted the veteran coach by stating, "This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse." Only weeks after being given the job at Benfica, Mourinho's mentor, Sir Bobby Robson, offered him the assistant manager's role at Newcastle United
. Such was Robson's desperation for Mourinho to join him he offered to step down after two years in charge and hand over the reins to Mourinho. Mourinho turned the offer down and said he knew Robson would never step down at the club he loved.
Mourinho and Mozer proved a popular combination, enjoying a 3–0 win against fierce rivals Sporting in December. Their reign, however, appeared to be at risk after Benfica's election turned against club president João Vale e Azevedo, and the newly-elected Manuel Vilarinho
said that he would instate ex-Benfica player Toni as his new coach. Although Vilarinho had no intention of firing him immediately, Mourinho used the victory over Sporting to test the president's loyalty and he asked for a contract extension. Vilarinho refused the demand and Mourinho resigned from his position immediately. He left the club on 5 December 2000 after just nine league games in charge. Upon later reflection, Vilarinho rued his poor judgement and expressed his frustration at losing Mourinho:
Mourinho found a new managerial post in April 2001 with União de Leiria, whom he took to their highest-ever league finish
of fifth place. Mourinho's successes at Leiria did not go unrecognised and he caught the attention of larger Portuguese clubs.
. Mourinho guided the team to third place that year after a strong 15-game run (W–D–L: 11–2–2) and gave the promise of "making Porto champions next year."
He quickly identified several key players whom he saw as the backbone of what he believed would be a perfect Porto team: Vítor Baía
, Ricardo Carvalho
, Costinha
, Deco
, Dmitri Alenichev
, and Hélder Postiga
. He recalled captain Jorge Costa
after a six-month loan to Charlton Athletic
. The signings from other clubs included Nuno Valente and Derlei
from União de Leiria; Paulo Ferreira
from Vitória de Setúbal
; Pedro Emanuel
from Boavista; and Edgaras Jankauskas
and Maniche, who both had been out of contract at Benfica.
During the pre-season, Mourinho put on the club website detailed reports on the team training. The reports were filled with formal vocabulary, as, for instance, he referred to a 20 km jog as an extended aerobic exercise
. While they attracted some scorn for the pretentiousness, others praised the innovation and the application of a more scientific approach to the training methods practised in Portugal. One of the key aspects in Mourinho-era Porto was his quick wit and the pressuring play, which started at the offensive line, dubbed pressão alta ("high pressure"). The physical and combative abilities of the teams' defenders and midfielders allowed Porto to apply pressure from the offensive lines and forced opponents either to concede the ball or try longer, uncertain passes.
In 2003, Mourinho won his first Primeira Liga with a 27–5–2 record, 11 points clear of Benfica, the team he quit two years earlier. The total of 86 points out of the possible maximum of 102 was a Portuguese record since the rule of three points per win was introduced. Mourinho also won the Portuguese Cup (against former club Leiria) and the UEFA Cup
final
against Celtic
, both in May 2003.
The following season witnessed further successes: he led Porto to victory in the one-match Portuguese SuperCup
, beating Leiria 1–0. They lost, however, the UEFA Super Cup 1–0 to AC Milan
, with Andriy Shevchenko
scoring the solitary goal. The team was dominant in the Primeira Liga and they finished the season with a perfect home record, an eight-point advantage, and an unbeaten run that only ended against Gil Vicente; they secured the title five weeks before the end of the season. Porto lost the Portuguese Cup final to Benfica in May 2004, but two weeks later, Mourinho won a greater prize: the UEFA Champions League
, with a 3–0
win over AS Monaco
in Germany
. The club had eliminated Manchester United
, Olympique Lyonnais
, and Deportivo La Coruña
and their sole defeat of the competition came against Real Madrid
in the group round.
Mourinho's win over Manchester United foreshadowed a move to the English league, where he and manager Alex Ferguson would compete in the Premier League. Porto were on the verge of an away goals defeat when Costinha scored a goal with only little more than thirty seconds left for the official 90 minutes time, to win the tie and Mourinho celebrated the goal flamboyantly. As a response to his European and domestic success, Mourinho was linked with several top European clubs, including Liverpool
, Real Madrid, and Chelsea
. Mourinho publicly stated his preference for the Liverpool job over the Chelsea one:
Liverpool offered their managerial position to Spanish coach Rafael Benítez
and Mourinho instead accepted a large offer from Roman Abramovich and pledged his immediate future to Chelsea.
Mourinho moved to Chelsea
in June 2004, becoming one of the highest paid managers in football with a salary of £
4.2 million a year, subsequently raised in 2005 to £5.2 million. In a press conference upon joining the English side, Mourinho said, "Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one," which resulted in the media dubbing him "The Special One".
Mourinho recruited his backroom staff from Porto, consisting of assistant manager Baltemar Brito
, fitness coach Rui Faria
, chief scout André Villas-Boas, and goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro
. He retained the services of Steve Clarke
, a long-serving former player at Chelsea, who had also performed an assistant managerial-type role under previous managers at the club. In terms of spending, Mourinho carried on where his predecessor Claudio Ranieri
left off, as, bankrolled by Roman Abramovich, he spent in excess of £70 million in transfer fees on players such as Tiago
(£10 million) from Benfica, Michael Essien
(£24.4 million) from Olympique Lyonnais
, Didier Drogba
(£24 million) from Olympique de Marseille
, Mateja Kežman
(£5.4 million) from PSV, and Porto pair Ricardo Carvalho
(£19.8 million) and Paulo Ferreira
(£13.3 million).
Under Mourinho, Chelsea built on the potential developed in the previous season. By early December, they were at the top of the Premier League table and had reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League
. He secured his first trophy by winning the League Cup against Liverpool
3–2 (AET) in Cardiff
. Towards the end of the match, Mourinho was escorted from the touchline after putting his finger to his mouth in the direction of Liverpool fans, as a response to taunts directed towards him whilst Liverpool were leading, before the equalising goal.
The club added more trophies as they secured their first top-flight domestic title in 50 years, setting a string of English football records in the process. He failed, however, to achieve back-to-back Champions League successes when Chelsea were knocked out of the competition by a controversial goal in the semi-finals by eventual winners Liverpool.
Chelsea started the next season well. They defeated Arsenal
2–1 to win the FA Community Shield
, and topped the Premier League from the first weekend of the 2005–06
season. Chelsea beat rivals Manchester United 3–0 to win their second consecutive Premiership title and Mourinho's fourth domestic title in a row. After the presentation of his championship medal, Mourinho threw his medal and blazer into the crowd. He was awarded a second medal within minutes which he also threw into the crowd.
The signing of Ukrainian
striker Andriy Shevchenko
in the summer of 2006 for a club record fee would also prove to be a point of contention between Mourinho and Abramovich. Shevchenko, at the time of his signing, was one of the most highly regarded strikers in Europe during his time with Milan, where he won the Champions League, Scudetto, and Ballon d'Or awards in his seven years in Milan
. Chelsea had attempted to sign Shevchenko in the preceding two years but Milan rebuffed Abramovich's interest in him. Shevchenko's first season at Chelsea was viewed as a major disappointment by the Chelsea fans as he only scored four league goals and 14 in all competitions. Shevchenko's strike partner, Didier Drogba
, had the highest scoring season of his career that year and this led Shevchenko to be dropped from the starting line-up towards the end of the season by Mourinho. Notably, in the Champions League match at Anfield
, Shevchenko was not even included on the bench. Abramovich's insistence on Mourinho playing the Ukrainian was widely viewed as a further source of friction between the two men. Shevchenko's signing was not the only one for Chelsea, however, as German captain Michael Ballack
was also signed to strengthen the midfield on free agent from Bayern Munich. The Iceland
ic striker Eiður Guðjohnsen
, an important player for Chelsea under Ranieri and Mourinho, departed the club for FC Barcelona
.
The 2006–07
season saw growing media speculation that Mourinho would leave the club at the season's conclusion, due to alleged poor relations with owner Roman Abramovich and a power struggle with sporting director Frank Arnesen
and Abramovich advisor Piet de Visser
. Mourinho later cleared doubts regarding his future at Stamford Bridge
, stating that there would only be two ways for him to leave Chelsea: if Chelsea were not to offer him a new contract in June 2010, and if Chelsea were to sack him. He then launched an ambitious campaign for all four trophies available with the aim of becoming the first club in English football to complete "the quadruple".
Despite the unrest, Chelsea, under Mourinho, won the League Cup
again by defeating Arsenal FC in the final at the Millennium Stadium
. The possibility, however, of the quadruple was brought to an end on 1 May 2007 when Liverpool eliminated Chelsea from the UEFA Champions League on penalties at Anfield, following a 1–1 aggregate draw. Days later, Chelsea failed to win the Premier League title by drawing 1–1 with Arsenal FC at the Emirates Stadium
on 6 May 2007. This meant that the title went to Manchester United. This was Mourinho's first season without a league title win in five years. Mourinho led Chelsea to a 1–0 victory against Manchester United in the 2007 FA Cup Final, winning in the first final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium
. This was his first FA Cup win which meant that he had won every domestic trophy available to a Premier League manager. There was, however, to be further friction between himself and Abramovich when Avram Grant was appointed as Director of Football, despite objections from Mourinho. Grant's position was further enhanced by being given a seat on the board. In spite of these tensions, the 2007–08 transfer season would see the departure of Dutch winger Arjen Robben
to Real Madrid
and French midfielder Florent Malouda
moved to Chelsea. Shevchenko was linked with a return to Milan but he remained at Chelsea for another year.
In the first match of the 2007–08 season, Chelsea beat Birmingham City
3–2 to set a new record of 64 consecutive home league matches without defeat, surpassing the record set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1981. Despite this feat, Chelsea's start to the 2007–08
season was not as successful as previous starts. The team lost at Aston Villa
and followed this with a goalless draw at home to Blackburn Rovers
. Their opening game in the UEFA Champions League
saw them only manage a 1–1 home draw against the Norwegian
team Rosenborg BK
in front of an almost half-empty stadium. Shevchenko scored Chelsea's only goal in that match.
Mourinho unexpectedly left Chelsea on 20 September 2007 "by mutual consent," although there had been a series of disagreements with Chairman Roman Abramovich. The Chelsea board held an emergency meeting and decided it was time to part with their manager. Mourinho left as the most successful manager in Chelsea's history, having won six trophies for the club in three years. He was also undefeated in all home league games. Avram Grant succeeded José Mourinho as Chelsea manager but failed to win any trophies in his year in charge, although he reached the final of the Champions League and League Cup. Grant's Chelsea also finished second in the Premier League.
at Internazionale
on a three-year contract, and brought along with him much of his backroom staff who had served him at both Chelsea and Porto. He chose Giuseppe Baresi
, a former Inter player and ex-head coach of their youth academy, as his assistant. He spoke solely in Italian
in his first press conference as Inter boss, claiming to have learnt it "in three weeks." Mourinho stated that he only intended to make a few major signings in the summer. By the end of the transfer window, he had brought three new players to the side: Brazilian winger Mancini (€
13 million), Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari
for reported €14 million, and Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma
for a cash/player exchange fee of €18.6 million plus young Portuguese midfielder Pelé.
In his first season as Inter head coach, Mourinho won the Italian SuperCup
, beating Roma
on penalties, and finished top of Serie A. Inter, however, were eliminated 2–0 on aggregate by Manchester United
in the first knock-out round of the UEFA Champions League, and he also failed to win the Coppa Italia
, being defeated 3–1 on aggregate by Sampdoria
in the semi-finals. As UEFA
was beginning to push the larger clubs in top leagues to play more homegrown players, Mourinho regularly played 18-year-old Italian forward Mario Balotelli
and promoted academy defender Davide Santon
to the first team permanently, installing an Italian contingent into a team previously composed of mostly foreign players. Both teenagers played a part in the Scudetto-winning season and played enough games to earn their first senior trophy.
Despite his domestic successes in winning the Scudetto by a ten point margin, Jose Mourinho's first season in Italy was viewed as disappointing by some Inter fans as they failed to improve on the performances of his predecessor Roberto Mancini in the Champions League. Inter put in a series of lacklustre group stage performances that included a shock 1–0 home loss to Panathinaikos and an away draw with Cypriot
minnows Anorthosis. They qualified, however, for the knockout stages of the Champions League but failed to make it to the quarter-finals after being defeated by Manchester United.
Mourinho also caused immediate ripples in Italian football through his controversial relationships with the Italian press and media, and feuds with major Serie A coaches such as Carlo Ancelotti
, then of AC Milan
, Luciano Spalletti
of Roma, and Claudio Ranieri
of Juventus
. At a press conference in March 2009, he insulted the first two rivals by claiming they would end the season with no honours – and accused the Italian sport journalists of "intellectual prostitution" on their behalf. This rant promptly became very popular in Italy, especially regarding the "zero titles" quote used by Mourinho, and incorrectly pronounced by him as zeru tituli (in correct Italian it would have been zero titoli), which was later extensively referred to by football journalists in Italy. It also became the title's catchphrase used by fans to celebrate Inter's 17th scudetto later that season. The catchphrase was even used by Nike to present the celebration shirts for Inter's Serie A title. After the Coppa Italia final
in May, fans of Roma's cross-town rivals Lazio
, the new Coppa Italia winners, wore shirts with Io campione, tu zero titoli ("I'm a champion, you have no honours") on it, quoting Mourinho's "zeru tituli" statement.
On 16 May 2009, Inter mathematically won the Serie A title, after runners-up Milan lost to Udinese
. This loss left the Nerazzurri seven points above their crosstown rivals with only two games remaining. They would eventually finish ten points clear of Milan.
On 28 July 2009, Mourinho was reported to have shown interest in taking over at Manchester United
when Alex Ferguson
retired. He was quoted as saying, "I would consider going to Manchester United but United have to consider if they want me to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson. If they do, then of course."
Under Mourinho, Inter have remained active in the transfer market. Adriano
left Inter in April 2009, and the exit of the Brazilian striker was followed by the Argentine duo Julio Cruz
and Hernán Crespo
. Legendary Portuguese attacking midfielder and veteran Luís Figo
retired. Figo was on the verge of leaving Inter under Mancini due to a lack of playing time but in his final season, Mourinho used him frequently. Mourinho signed Argentine striker Diego Milito
, who fell just one goal short of winning the top scorer award with Genoa
, as well as Thiago Motta
and Wesley Sneijder
, to bolster the midfield. Perhaps his most notable signing of the summer of his second season was a swap deal of Zlatan Ibrahimović
for FC Barcelona
's Cameroon
ian striker Samuel Eto'o
and a reported 35 million pound transfer fee also went to Inter. This transfer was the second most expensive in the history of the transfer market, after Cristiano Ronaldo
moved to Real Madrid
earlier in the summer. Eto'o got off to a promising start with Inter by scoring two goals in the first two matches of the season.
Ricardo Quaresma
's signing from Mourinho's old club FC Porto was viewed as a missing link in the Inter squad, but his play disappointed the club and led him to be loaned off to Chelsea
midway through the season, ironically Mourinho's other former club. Mancini also failed to dominate in the midfield and addressing these shortcomings in the transfer market became a priority for Inter. Inter's lack of a creative playmaker, or trequartista, has been blamed for the Champions League failure. In their attempt to deal with this issue, Inter signed Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder
from Real Madrid.
Mourinho once again sparked controversy in the summer with his argument with Italy national team coach Marcello Lippi
. Lippi predicted that Juventus
would win the Scudetto in the 2009–10 season, which Mourinho viewed Lippi's comments as disrespectful to Inter. The previous year, Lippi predicted Inter would win the title and Mourinho did not respond to his prediction. Lippi responded by saying that Mourinho was equal to Ciro Ferrara
and Leonardo
at Juventus and Milan, respectively, only that he was more experienced. After the row with Lippi, he clashed with Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro
over Davide Santon
's place in the Inter squad. Cannavaro had said that Santon might have to leave Inter to get regular playing time to gain selection for Italy in the World Cup. Mourinho responded by saying that Cannavaro was acting like a coach.
Inter struggled in their first two matches of the new season. The team lost the Italian SuperCup to Lazio
2–1 and drew 1–1 with newly promoted Bari
at the San Siro. Mourinho's team improved dramatically since then, however, as he built a formidable midfield with Sneijder at the heart of it and the likes of new signing Thiago Motta and veterans Javier Zanetti
and Dejan Stanković
. Inter went on score more than 30 goals (as of the end of November), thrashing derby rivals Milan 4–0, with new signings Diego Milito and Motta both scoring, and hammering Genoa 5–0, the largest margin of victory in the Serie A that season. He was sent off in the December Derby d'Italia
away fixture after he sarcastically applauded the referee for what he felt was a dubious free-kick given to Juventus and Inter went on to lose 2–1, courtesy of a Claudio Marchisio
winner in the second-half.
Later during the season, Mourinho maintained a strongly critical position against refereeing in Italy, which reached its peak during the 22 February 2010 league game against Sampdoria
, ended in a 0–0 tie, with two Inter players being sent off in the first half. At the end of the first half, José Mourinho made a handcuffs gesture towards a camera which was considered by the Football Association as violent and critical of the refereeing performance, and caused a three-game ban against the Portuguese coach. Also, his difficult relationship with young striker Mario Balotelli
and the team's loss of form that led Inter to achieve only seven points in six games (and three of such games, including a shock 1–3 defeat at the hands of Sicilian minnows Catania
, happening during Mourinho's ban) were heavily criticized by the media and pundits. Despite this, Mourinho achieved what was hailed as one of his career highlights after Inter managed to progress to the UEFA Champions League
quarter-finals by defeating Mourinho's former team Chelsea
in both legs (2–1 win at San Siro, then followed by a 1–0 win at Stamford Bridge
).
On 6 April 2010, José Mourinho became the first manager in history to take three different teams to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League
(this record was equalled by Bayern Munich
manager Louis van Gaal
a day later) after his Internazionale managed to overcome CSKA Moscow 0–1 in Russia in the second leg of their quarter-final tie, which ended 2–0 on aggregate. Wesley Sneijder
's goal in the sixth minute proved the difference in a match played in laid-back style. This marked the first time in seven years that Internazionale managed to make it to the semi-finals of the competition. On 13 April, Internazionale
continued its good season, having managed to qualify for the Coppa Italia
final, for the first time under Mourinho, by beating Fiorentina 1–0 away (2–0 on aggregate).
On 28 April 2010, José Mourinho reached the UEFA Champions League Final
for the second time in his career after Internazionale
beat current holders Barcelona
3–2 on aggregate, after losing 1–0 at Nou Camp (which Mourinho called "the most beautiful defeat of my life"). This brought Internazionale
back into a UEFA Champions League Final 38 years after their last (a defeat to AFC Ajax). Mourinho was involved in a brief scuffle with Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés
while attempting to join in the Inter celebrations. Mourinho afterwards stated that that "anti-Madridismo" had motivated the Barça fans, suggesting that they were obsessed with reaching the final and winning the tournament in their arch-rival's home ground. Diario Marca proclaimed that Mourinho had passed the test to become the next head coach of Real Madrid, as their fans celebrated the elimination of Barcelona.
On 2 May, after a 2–0 away win at Rome against Lazio, Inter almost secured the Serie A title. On 5 May 2010, the team won the Coppa Italia, defeating AS Roma 1–0, and on the 16 May 2010 Inter beat Siena 1–0 to secure the domestic double.
On 22 May 2010, Inter won the UEFA Champions League
beating Bayern Munich 2–0, and in doing so Inter became the first Italian club to complete The Treble
and Mourinho personally celebrated the second "treble win" in his managerial career and second Champions League win.
The day after having won the UEFA Champions League
, Mourinho claimed that he was "sad, as almost for sure it's my last game with Inter". He then added that "if you don't coach Real Madrid
then you will always have a gap in your career".
After days of discussions between Real Madrid and Inter, a record breaking compensation package was successfully agreed on 27 May 2010, and Mourinho was consequently released by Inter.
at the Santiago Bernabéu
. On 31 May 2010, Mourinho was unveiled as the new manager of Real Madrid
after signing a four-year deal at the club, and became the 11th coach in the past seven years at Real Madrid.
By the end of the transfer window, after the 2010 FIFA World Cup
, he had brought four new players to is new side: the two Germans Mesut Özil
(€15 million) and Sami Khedira
(€13 million), Portuguese
defender Ricardo Carvalho
(€8 million) and the winger Ángel di María
(€25 million plus €11 million on incentives).
On 29 August 2010, Real Madrid drew 0–0 at RCD Mallorca
in Mourinho's first La Liga
game as manager.
When asked about all the missed opportunities against Levante
in La Liga and Auxerre
in the UEFA Champions League
, Mourinho said: "One day some poor rival is going to pay for the chances we've missed today." The following match at the Santiago Bernabéu
ended with a 6–1 victory over Deportivo La Coruña
. The following league games confirmed Mourinho's statement, defeating Málaga
by 1–4 and Racing Santander
again by 6–1.
On 29 November 2010, Mourinho's Madrid were defeated on his first clásico
encounter against Barcelona
. The match, held in Camp Nou
ended 5-0 to the hosts, with Real Madrid director Florentino Pérez
regarding it the worst game in the history of Real Madrid. Sporting director Valdano also criticized Mourinho for his 'inability to bring a major correction to the game' and 'not leaving his bench for the (majority) of the match'. When asked by a media reporter however, Mourinho refused to call the loss a 'humiliation'.
On 30 November 2010, Mourinho was fined £33,500 for appearing to instruct Xabi Alonso
and Sergio Ramos
to attempt to receive a strategic second yellow card in the 4–0 win against Ajax. He was also banned for two Champions League matches, the second of which is suspended for three years.
On 22 December 2010, José Mourinho won a match by the widest margin in his career, winning 8–0 against Levante
, also of La Liga, in the first leg of their quarter-final of the Copa del Rey
.
On 20 April 2011, Mourinho won his first trophy in Spanish football as Real Madrid defeated Barcelona
1–0 in the Copa del Rey final
held at the Estadio Mestalla in Valencia ending Real Madrid's eighteen-year-long cup drought.
Statistics accurate as of match played 26 November 2011
, 38 (W29–D9) with Internazionale
and 14 (W14–D0) with Real Madrid
. The run was broken by Sporting de Gijón
on 2 April 2011, when they defeated Real Madrid 1–0 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
in La Liga
. After the match, Mourinho entered Sporting de Gijón's dressing room and congratulated them.
His only prior home league defeat had come when Porto lost 3–2 to Beira-Mar on 23 February 2002.
twice and the UEFA Cup once. Since 2002, Mourinho has not gone a full season or a calendar year without winning at least one trophy.
Porto (2002–2004)
Chelsea (2004–2007)
Internazionale (2008–2010)
Real Madrid (2010–present)
On 27 January 2003, after a Porto-Boavista derby in Estádio das Antas
, Mourinho refused to shake hands with Boavista coach Jaime Pacheco
, quoting "I don't shake hands with someone I don't know". The two coaches were exchanging words all week before the match. Pacheco returned the favor in February 2007, before the Champions League match between Porto and Chelsea, calling Mourinho sick and mentally retarded.
On 31 January 2004, after a Sporting Clube de Portugal vs. FC Porto 1–1 match in Lisbon, Porto keeper Vítor Baía
and Sporting midfielder Rui Jorge exchanged shirts. Mourinho took Rui Jorge's shirt from Baia and ripped it. Mourinho was not punished for the action. On 26 February, after the Porto vs. Manchester United match at Dragão
, an angered Alex Ferguson
(United's manager) ran away from Mourinho and refused to shake hands with him. Mourinho called him to apologize. In March, before a Barcelona
vs. Celtic match for the UEFA Cup
, Mourinho criticized Celtic's coach Martin O'Neill
and his team for playing non-attractive football, and recalled the 2003 UEFA Cup final between Porto and Celtic, when, as he said "we kept the ball and they just ran all over the pitch trying to get to us with their horrible and aggressive style". O'Neill responded harshly criticizing the "diving" Porto players used to get fouls. "Mourinho's comments are just unbelievable. I just treat them with the response they deserve. He's still to get over the embarrassment of Vitor Baia lying out on the turf for three or four days" O'Neill said.
On 6 October 2004, Adrian Mutu
accused Mourinho of trying to prevent him from playing in a World Cup qualifier. Mourinho was informed by the Chelsea medical team that the player was unfit after a knee injury, but Mutu disagreed and insisted he was fit to play. The fitness disagreement soon became irrelevant as Mutu tested positive for cocaine
in a routine drugs test and he was sacked on 29 October 2004.
Following a Champions League tie between Chelsea and Barcelona
in March 2005, Mourinho accused Anders Frisk
and Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard
of breaking FIFA
rules by having a meeting at half–time. Mourinho insisted that this biased the referee and caused him to send off Chelsea striker Didier Drogba
in the second half. Frisk admitted that Rijkaard had tried to speak to him but insisted that he had sent him away. The situation intensified when Frisk began to receive death threats from angered fans, causing the referee to retire prematurely. The UEFA
referee's chief, Volker Roth
, labeled Mourinho an "enemy of football", although UEFA distanced themselves from the comment. After an investigation of the incident, Mourinho was given a two-match touchline ban for his behaviour and both Chelsea and the manager were fined by UEFA, though the body confirmed that it did not hold Mourinho personally responsible for Frisk's retirement.
On 2 June 2005, Mourinho was fined £200,000 for his part in the meeting with then Arsenal
full-back Ashley Cole
in January 2005 in breach of the Premier League rules. His fine was later reduced to £75,000 after a hearing in August. Later that year, he labeled Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger
"a voyeur" after being irked at what he saw as the latter's apparent obsession with Chelsea. Wenger was furious with the remark and considered taking legal action against Mourinho. However, the animosity died down and the two managers made peace after Mourinho admitted that he regretted making the comment.
After a league match with Everton
on 17 December 2006, Mourinho branded Andrew Johnson "untrustworthy" following a challenge with Chelsea keeper Henrique Hilário
. Everton issued a statement threatening legal action and calling on Mourinho to apologize, which he later did.
In August 2009, Mourinho again found himself causing controversy after commenting that the performance of Muslim
player Sulley Muntari
was lacking fitness and energy due to fasting during the month of Ramadan
. He was reported to have said, "Muntari had some problems related to Ramadan, perhaps with this heat it's not good for him to be doing this [fasting]. Ramadan has not arrived at the ideal moment for a player to play a football match." The comments sparked an angry response from Muslim leader Mohamed Nour Dachan, who responded, "I think Mourinho could do with talking a little less. A practising [Muslim] player is not weakened because we know from the Institute of Sports Medicine that mental and psychological stability can give a sportsman an extra edge on the field."
On 21 April 2010, after Inter's 3–1 win against FC Barcelona in Milan, Catalan media alleged that Mourinho and Portuguese referee Olegário Benquerença
(who was the referee of the San Siro match) were long time friends and also that they co-own a restaurant called O Menino in Leiria
, Portugal
, accusing Benquerença's friendship with Mourinho of being responsible for Inter's win. Catalan radio and media also claimed that Benquerença is called Larapio ("thief") in Portugal, since a 2004 match between Benfica and Porto in Lisbon
in which Benquerença disallowed a dubious goal by Benfica's Petit
, thus helping Porto to win 1–0; however, that match took place the season after Mourinho's departure from the club. Mourinho himself denied any such allegiances. "I have no restaurant with anybody" he said, "maybe [Barcelona manager] Pep
[Guardiola] has a restaurant in Oslo", taunting Norwegian referee Tom Henning Øvrebø
's role in Barcelona's qualification against Chelsea in London for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League semifinal.
On 27 September 2010, Mourinho blasted out at the press after he was pushed too far regarding the exclusion of Pedro Leon from the squad to play against Auxerre. He said, "Don't you want to ask me who will play tomorrow? I have already told you that Benzema will start. If I were a reporter, I would ask who the other 10 players are. Will Higuain play with Benzema or be on the bench? But no – you only insist on Pedro Leon, it seems as if he is Maradona or Zidane...", before he walked out of the press conference abruptly.
Just 3 days before this outburst, Mourinho came out in the press, attacking Sporting de Gijon for putting out a weaker team against Barcelona. He said in a press conference, "If teams gift their games to Barcelona, it will be harder to win the league. They think that they will not win and therefore play with their reserve squad – this would complicate the league for us." Pep Guardiola, manager of Barcelona refused to be drawn on the matter.
On 7 November 2010, Mourinho was sent to the stand by referee Paradas Romero in a cup match against Murcia. After further questioning the referee's record he was given a two match ban and forced to apologize by the Spanish FA. Mourinho maintained that "it is better that it is me who is sanctioned than an important player".
In a Champions League match at Ajax, late in the match when Real Madrid were leading 4–0, two Real Madrid players received late second yellow cards related to time wasting. The result of this meant they were suspended for the final group match even though Madrid would come first in the group, but would benefit by entering the round of 16 without any accumulated yellow cards. It was suggested that this was a deliberate ploy under Mourinho's instruction via two players in a substitution. As a result, UEFA charged Mourinho along with the four related players with improper conduct.
On 17 August 2011, in the final of the 2011 Supercopa de España, Mourinho was seen gouging the eye of Barcelona's assistant coach Tito Vilanova during a brawl at the end of the game. After the game Mourinho did not comment on the incident except to claim that he did not know who "Pito" Vilanova was, with Pito being Spanish slang for penis.
Mourinho met his wife Matilde "Tami" Faria, born in Angola
, when they were teenagers in Setúbal, Portugal, and the couple married in 1989. Their first child, daughter Matilde, was born in 1996 and they had their first son, José Mário, Jr., four years later. Mourinho, whilst dedicated to football, describes his family as the centre of his life and has noted that the "most important thing is my family and being a good father." He was selected as the New Statesman
Man of the Year 2005 and was described as a man devoted to both his family and his work. Mourinho has also been a part of social initiatives and charity work, helping with a youth project, bringing Israeli and Palestinian children together through football and donating his "lucky" jacket to Tsunami Relief
, earning £22,000 for the charity. José Mourinho is a Catholic.
Widely known for his strong personality, refined dress sense, and quirky comments at press conferences, Mourinho has experienced fame outside of football circles, featuring in European advertisement campaigns for Samsung
, American Express
and adidas
, amongst others. An unofficial biography of Mourinho, titled O Vencedor – De Setúbal a Stamford Bridge (The Winner – from Setúbal to Stamford Bridge), was a best seller in Portugal. However, Mourinho did not authorise the biography and attempted, unsuccessfully, to prevent the book from being published.
Mourinho was part of an unusual event in May 2007 when he was arrested for preventing animal welfare officials from putting his dog in to quarantine
. The dog had not been sufficiently inoculated but the situation was resolved after it was returned to Portugal and Mourinho received a police caution.
In 23 March 2009, José Mourinho was awarded a doctorate honoris causa degree by the Technical University of Lisbon
for his accomplishments in football.
Mourinho speaks Portuguese
, Spanish
, Italian
, French
and English
fluently. He also speaks Catalan
.
In October 2010, Mourinho was ranked No.9 on the list of Most Influential Men published by AskMen.com
.
Setúbal
Setúbal is the main city in Setúbal Municipality in Portugal with a total area of 172.0 km² and a total population of 118,696 inhabitants in the municipality. The city proper has 89,303 inhabitants....
) is a Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
football manager
Manager (association football)
In association football, a manager is responsible for running a football club or a national team. The manager of a professional club is responsible directly to the club president. The position of manager is almost exclusively used in British football...
and the current manager of Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
. He is commonly known as "The Special One".
Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches and critics as the best ever coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
in football.
Mourinho started out as a player but he was unable to forge a meaningful career in the game and eventually switched to management. After spells working as an assistant manager and a youth team coach in the early 1990s, he became an interpreter for Sir Bobby Robson
Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE was an English footballer and manager, who coached seven European clubs and the England national team during his career....
. There he worked with him at Sporting Clube de Portugal and Porto in Portugal, before following him to Spanish club Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
. He remained in the Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
n club after Robson's departure and worked with the successor, Louis van Gaal
Louis van Gaal
Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal OON is a Dutch football manager formerly in charge of Ajax, Netherlands, Barcelona, AZ and Bayern Munich...
.
He began focusing on coaching and impressed with brief but successful managerial periods at Benfica and União de Leiria. He returned to Porto in 2002, this time as head coach, winning the Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal
Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal is the main Portuguese national football knock-out competition. The tournament has been officially known as the Taça de Portugal Millennium since 2008, due to its sponsorship by Portuguese private bank Millennium BCP. It has occurred on a yearly basis since 1938 and is...
, and UEFA Cup in 2003. In 2004 Mourinho guided the team to the top of the league for a second time and won the highest honour in European club football, the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
.
Mourinho moved to Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
the following year and won two consecutive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006. He often courted controversy for his outspokenness, but his victories at Chelsea and Porto established him as one of the world's top football managers.
In mid-2008 he moved to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
, signing a three-year contract with Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
. Within three months he had won his first Italian honour, the Supercoppa Italiana
Supercoppa Italiana
The Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
, and completed his first season in Italy by winning the Serie A league title. Mourinho followed on from that the next season by winning the first treble in Italian history, the Serie A league title, Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
, and the UEFA Champions League, thus becoming the third manager in football history to win two UEFA Champions League with two different teams, after Ernst Happel and Ottmar Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld is a German former football player and manager, nicknamed der General ....
.
Due to these achievements he won the first ever FIFA Ballon d'Or
FIFA Ballon d'Or
The FIFA Ballon d'Or is an association football award given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season...
Best Coach Award in 2010.
On 28 May 2010, his appointment as head coach at Real Madrid was confirmed, signing a four-year contract. His first honour with the team was winning the 2011 Copa del Rey Final
2011 Copa del Rey Final
-Aftermath:Real Madrid players celebrated their victory that evening by riding a double-decker bus through Madrid where they were greeted by cheering crowds. While holding the trophy aloft, Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos dropped the cup in front of the bus, where it was crushed. Ramos later...
, the first time Madrid had won the competition since 1993
1992–93 Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey 1992-93 is the 89th staging of the Copa del Rey.The competition started on August 28, 1992 and concluded on June 26, 1993 with the Final, held at the Estadio Luis Casanova in Valencia.-1st Round:...
.
Formative years and education
José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho was born in 1963 to a large middle-class family in SetúbalSetúbal
Setúbal is the main city in Setúbal Municipality in Portugal with a total area of 172.0 km² and a total population of 118,696 inhabitants in the municipality. The city proper has 89,303 inhabitants....
, Portugal, the son of Félix Mourinho
Félix Mourinho
José Manuel Félix Mourinho is a Portuguese ex-professional footballer and the father of football coach José Mourinho.-Biography:Mourinho was a goalkeeper for the Portuguese teams C.F. Os Belenenses and Vitória Setúbal...
and wife Maria Júlia Carrajola dos Santos. His father played football professionally for Os Belenenses and Vitória de Setúbal
Vitória F.C.
Vitória Futebol Clube is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Setúbal. Popularly known as Vitória de Setúbal with the motto "A Vitória será nossa" .- Domestic :*Portuguese Liga: Runners-up 1971–72...
, earning one cap for Portugal
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...
in the course of his career. His mother was a primary school teacher from an affluent background; her uncle funded the construction of the Vitória de Setúbal football stadium. The fall
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
of António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar, GColIH, GCTE, GCSE served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. He also served as acting President of the Republic briefly in 1951. He founded and led the Estado Novo , the authoritarian, right-wing government that presided over and controlled Portugal...
's Estado Novo regime in April 1974, however, led to the family losing all but a single property in nearby Palmela
Palmela
Palmela is a town and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of and a total population of 58,222 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 5 parishes, and is located in Setúbal District, about south of Lisbon.The municipal holiday is June 1....
.
From an early age, football was a major part of Mourinho's life. Footballing commitments in Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
and Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
meant that Félix was often separated from his son. As a teenager, Mourinho travelled to attend his father's weekend matches and when his father had became a coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
, Mourinho began observing training sessions and scouting opposing teams. Mourinho wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father by becoming a footballer and so he joined the Belenenses youth team. Graduating to the senior level, he played at Rio Ave (where his father was coach), Belenenses, and Sesimbra. He lacked the requisite pace and power to become a professional and chose to focus on becoming a football coach instead.
His mother enrolled him in a business school, Mourinho dropped out on his first day, deciding he would rather focus on sport, and chose to attend the Instituto Superior de Educação Física (ISEF), Technical University of Lisbon
Technical University of Lisbon
The Technical University of Lisbon is a Portuguese public university. It was created in 1930 in Lisbon, as a confederation of older schools, and comprises, nowadays, the faculties and institutes of veterinary medicine; agricultural sciences; economics and business administration; engineering,...
, to study sports science
Sports science
Sport science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance...
. He taught physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
at various schools and after five years, he had earned his diploma, receiving consistently good marks throughout the course. After attending coaching courses held by the English and Scottish Football Associations, former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh
Andy Roxburgh
Andy Roxburgh is a former Scottish football player and coach. He has been UEFA Technical Director since 1994.- Playing career :...
took note of the young Portuguese's drive and attention to detail. Mourinho sought to redefine the role of coach in football by mixing coaching theory with motivational and psychological techniques.
Entering management
After leaving his job as a school coach, Mourinho looked for paths into professional management in his hometown and became youth team coach at Vitória de Setúbal in the early 1990s. Working his way up the ladder, he accepted the position of assistant manager at Estrela da Amadora, then was the assistant manager of OvarenseA.D. Ovarense
Associação Desportiva Ovarense is a Portuguese football team based in Ovar. They were founded in 1921 and currently play at Estádio Marques da Silva....
. Mourinho yearned for greater challenges and in 1992 an opportunity arose to work as a translator for a top foreign coach. Sir Bobby Robson
Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE was an English footballer and manager, who coached seven European clubs and the England national team during his career....
had been appointed as the new manager of Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
club Sporting Clube de Portugal and the Englishman required a local coach with a good command of English to work as his interpreter.
Initially a step away from management, Mourinho began discussing tactics and coaching with Robson in his interpreting role. Robson was sacked by Sporting in December 1993, but Portuguese rivals FC Porto appointed him as their head coach and Mourinho moved with him, continuing to coach and interpret for players at the new club. After two years at Porto the duo moved again, switching to FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
in 1996, where he learnt Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
for the new challenge. Mourinho and his family moved to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and he gradually became a prominent figure of Barcelona's staff by translating at press conferences, planning practice sessions, and helping players through tactical advice and analyses of the opposition. Robson and Mourinho's styles complemented each other: the Englishman favoured an attacking style, while Mourinho covered defensive options, and the Portuguese's love of planning and training combined with Robson's direct man-management. The partnership was fruitful and Barcelona finished the season with the European Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
. Robson moved club the following season but this time Mourinho did not follow as Barcelona were keen to retain him as assistant manager. The two remained good friends and Mourinho later reflected on the effect Robson had had upon him:
He began working with Robson's successor, Louis van Gaal
Louis van Gaal
Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal OON is a Dutch football manager formerly in charge of Ajax, Netherlands, Barcelona, AZ and Bayern Munich...
, and he learnt much from the Dutchman
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
's conscientious style. Both assistant and head coach combined their studious approach to the game and Barcelona won La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
twice in van Gaal's first two years as coach. Van Gaal saw that his number two had the promise to be more than a skilled assistant. He let Mourinho develop his own independent coaching style and entrusted him with the coaching duties of FC Barcelona B. Van Gaal also let Mourinho take charge of the first team (acting as Mourinho's assistant himself) for certain trophies, like the Copa Catalunya, which Mourinho won in 2000.
Benfica and Leiria
The chance to become a top-tier manager arrived in September 2000 when Mourinho moved up from his role as assistant coach at LisbonLisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
side Benfica to replace head coach Jupp Heynckes
Jupp Heynckes
Josef "Jupp" Heynckes is a German football coach and former player. As player he belonged to the core of the team of Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and 1970s where he won many national championships and the Cup as well as the UEFA Cup...
after the fourth week of the Primeira Liga. The Benfica hierarchy wanted to appoint Jesualdo Ferreira
Jesualdo Ferreira
Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira is a Portuguese football manager who currently manages Greek club Panathinaikos.-Early career:In Ferreira's early career, he managed Rio Maior and Torreense...
as the new assistant coach, but Mourinho refused and picked Carlos Mozer
Carlos Mozer
José Carlos Nepomuceno Mozer is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a central defender, and a current coach.In his career, he was mainly associated with Benfica in Portugal, which he represented in two separate spells...
, a retired Benfica defender, as his right-hand man instead.
Mourinho was highly critical of Ferreira, whom he had first encountered as his teacher at ISEF and later lambasted the veteran coach by stating, "This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse." Only weeks after being given the job at Benfica, Mourinho's mentor, Sir Bobby Robson, offered him the assistant manager's role at Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
. Such was Robson's desperation for Mourinho to join him he offered to step down after two years in charge and hand over the reins to Mourinho. Mourinho turned the offer down and said he knew Robson would never step down at the club he loved.
Mourinho and Mozer proved a popular combination, enjoying a 3–0 win against fierce rivals Sporting in December. Their reign, however, appeared to be at risk after Benfica's election turned against club president João Vale e Azevedo, and the newly-elected Manuel Vilarinho
Manuel Vilarinho
Manuel Lino Rodrigues Vilarinho, was the 32nd president of S.L. Benfica, elected on 28 October 2000. The election was the most hotly contested in all Benfica's history and Vilarinho won 62% of the vote, ousting João Vale e Azevedo, the incumbent president, in the process.Vilarinho caused former...
said that he would instate ex-Benfica player Toni as his new coach. Although Vilarinho had no intention of firing him immediately, Mourinho used the victory over Sporting to test the president's loyalty and he asked for a contract extension. Vilarinho refused the demand and Mourinho resigned from his position immediately. He left the club on 5 December 2000 after just nine league games in charge. Upon later reflection, Vilarinho rued his poor judgement and expressed his frustration at losing Mourinho:
Mourinho found a new managerial post in April 2001 with União de Leiria, whom he took to their highest-ever league finish
2000-01 in Portuguese football
The 2000/01 Portuguese football season saw a new champion: Boavista FC became the 5th club ever to win the championship, surprising many by securing the title in the 33rd of 34 rounds.-Final league table:-External links:*...
of fifth place. Mourinho's successes at Leiria did not go unrecognised and he caught the attention of larger Portuguese clubs.
Porto
He was then hand-picked in January 2002 by FC Porto to replace Octávio MachadoOctávio Machado
Octávio Joaquim Coelho Machado is a retired Portuguese football player and coach.-Club career:...
. Mourinho guided the team to third place that year after a strong 15-game run (W–D–L: 11–2–2) and gave the promise of "making Porto champions next year."
He quickly identified several key players whom he saw as the backbone of what he believed would be a perfect Porto team: Vítor Baía
Vítor Baía
Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH , is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a goalkeeper.His career was intimately connected with F.C...
, Ricardo Carvalho
Ricardo Carvalho
Ricardo Alberto Silveira de Carvalho OIH , is a footballer who plays as a centre back for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid.Carvalho was born in Amarante where he played for the local team, Amarante Futebol Clube. By his great performance as a youngster, he was spotted by the Portuguese powerhouse,...
, Costinha
Costinha
Francisco José Rodrigues da Costa, OIH , aka Costinha , is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a defensive midfielder....
, Deco
Deco
Anderson Luís de Souza, OIH , commonly known as Deco, is a Brazilian-born Portuguese professional footballer who currently plays for Fluminense....
, Dmitri Alenichev
Dmitri Alenichev
Dmitri Anatolievich Alenitchev is a professional association football coach and a former player and politician. Currently, he is managing the Russia Under-18 national football team.-Biography:...
, and Hélder Postiga
Hélder Postiga
Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Real Zaragoza in Spain, as a striker.After starting professionally at Porto, Postiga went on to have spells in England , France and Greece , before returning to his country with Sporting.A Portuguese international on more than...
. He recalled captain Jorge Costa
Jorge Costa
Jorge Paulo Costa Almeida , known as Costa, is a retired Portuguese professional footballer who played as a central defender, and a current manager....
after a six-month loan to Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
. The signings from other clubs included Nuno Valente and Derlei
Derlei
Vanderlei Fernandes Silva , aka Derlei, is a retired Brazilian-Portuguese footballer who played as a striker.He spent most of his 16-year professional career in Portugal , having represented all three most important clubs in the country, and amassing top division totals of 187 games and 70...
from União de Leiria; Paulo Ferreira
Paulo Ferreira
Paulo Renato Rebocho Ferreira is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Chelsea as a defender. However, in his recent years, Ferreira has been noted to play as an attacking forward, in which he is famous for his through balls out to the wingers and/or striker-Early career:He started his career in...
from Vitória de Setúbal
Vitória F.C.
Vitória Futebol Clube is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Setúbal. Popularly known as Vitória de Setúbal with the motto "A Vitória será nossa" .- Domestic :*Portuguese Liga: Runners-up 1971–72...
; Pedro Emanuel
Pedro Emanuel
Pedro Emanuel dos Santos Martins Silva , known as Pedro Emanuel, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played mainly as a central defender....
from Boavista; and Edgaras Jankauskas
Edgaras Jankauskas
Edgaras Jankauskas is a retired Lithuanian footballer who works as a coach-interpreter for FC Lokomotiv Moscow.A tall, powerful striker who plays to the physical side of the game, he is also known for skill. Other than in his own, he played professionally in nine different countries, and...
and Maniche, who both had been out of contract at Benfica.
During the pre-season, Mourinho put on the club website detailed reports on the team training. The reports were filled with formal vocabulary, as, for instance, he referred to a 20 km jog as an extended aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise is physical exercise of relatively low intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. Aerobic literally means "living in air", and refers to the use of oxygen to adequately meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism...
. While they attracted some scorn for the pretentiousness, others praised the innovation and the application of a more scientific approach to the training methods practised in Portugal. One of the key aspects in Mourinho-era Porto was his quick wit and the pressuring play, which started at the offensive line, dubbed pressão alta ("high pressure"). The physical and combative abilities of the teams' defenders and midfielders allowed Porto to apply pressure from the offensive lines and forced opponents either to concede the ball or try longer, uncertain passes.
In 2003, Mourinho won his first Primeira Liga with a 27–5–2 record, 11 points clear of Benfica, the team he quit two years earlier. The total of 86 points out of the possible maximum of 102 was a Portuguese record since the rule of three points per win was introduced. Mourinho also won the Portuguese Cup (against former club Leiria) and the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
final
2003 UEFA Cup Final
The 2003 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 2003 between Celtic of Scotland and Porto of Portugal. Porto won the match 3–2 in extra time thanks to a goal from Derlei...
against Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
, both in May 2003.
The following season witnessed further successes: he led Porto to victory in the one-match Portuguese SuperCup
SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira
The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira , also known as Portuguese SuperCup) is a Portuguese football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of the Portuguese Liga and the winners of the Cup of Portugal. If a team wins The Double , the double winner plays the defeated team of the Cup...
, beating Leiria 1–0. They lost, however, the UEFA Super Cup 1–0 to AC Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
, with Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko is a Ukrainian footballer who plays for Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukraine national team as a striker. He is the third-highest scorer in the history of European club competition with 67 goals as of 2011-03-10, behind Filippo Inzaghi and Raúl. With 175 goals scored with A.C...
scoring the solitary goal. The team was dominant in the Primeira Liga and they finished the season with a perfect home record, an eight-point advantage, and an unbeaten run that only ended against Gil Vicente; they secured the title five weeks before the end of the season. Porto lost the Portuguese Cup final to Benfica in May 2004, but two weeks later, Mourinho won a greater prize: the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
, with a 3–0
2004 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2004 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match played at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on 26 May 2004, to decide the winner of the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League...
win over AS Monaco
AS Monaco FC
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club are a French football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. The club was founded in 1924 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. The team plays its home matches at the Stade Louis II located within Fontvieille...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The club had eliminated Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
, Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais is a French association football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The...
, and Deportivo La Coruña
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia; founded in 1906 and currently playing in Segunda División...
and their sole defeat of the competition came against Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
in the group round.
Mourinho's win over Manchester United foreshadowed a move to the English league, where he and manager Alex Ferguson would compete in the Premier League. Porto were on the verge of an away goals defeat when Costinha scored a goal with only little more than thirty seconds left for the official 90 minutes time, to win the tie and Mourinho celebrated the goal flamboyantly. As a response to his European and domestic success, Mourinho was linked with several top European clubs, including Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, Real Madrid, and Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
. Mourinho publicly stated his preference for the Liverpool job over the Chelsea one:
Liverpool offered their managerial position to Spanish coach Rafael Benítez
Rafael Benítez
Rafael "Rafa" Benítez Maudes is a football manager, and former player. He is currently unemployed, after leaving as manager of Internazionale in December 2010....
and Mourinho instead accepted a large offer from Roman Abramovich and pledged his immediate future to Chelsea.
Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in June 2004, becoming one of the highest paid managers in football with a salary of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
4.2 million a year, subsequently raised in 2005 to £5.2 million. In a press conference upon joining the English side, Mourinho said, "Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one," which resulted in the media dubbing him "The Special One".
Mourinho recruited his backroom staff from Porto, consisting of assistant manager Baltemar Brito
Baltemar Brito
Baltemar José de Oliveira Brito is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a central defender, and a current coach.-Playing career:...
, fitness coach Rui Faria
Rui Faria
Rui Filipe da Cunha Faria , better known as Rui Faria, is a Portuguese football coach, known for his association with football manager José Mourinho, currently working with Mourinho at Real Madrid in the Spanish Primera Liga as a fitness coach.-Early life:Faria was born in Balugães, a tiny parish...
, chief scout André Villas-Boas, and goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro
Silvino Louro
Silvino de Almeida Louro , simply Silvino in his playing career, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a goalkeeper....
. He retained the services of Steve Clarke
Steve Clarke
Stephen "Steve" Clarke is a Scottish association football player and coach, currently the assistant manager at Liverpool. He played for St. Mirren, Chelsea and Scotland, winning three major trophies with Chelsea towards the end of his career...
, a long-serving former player at Chelsea, who had also performed an assistant managerial-type role under previous managers at the club. In terms of spending, Mourinho carried on where his predecessor Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri, is an Italian football manager, currently in charge as head coach of Internazionale.He has also managed many other well-known clubs in Europe, including Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Parma, Juventus and Roma.-Early life:Ranieri attended St...
left off, as, bankrolled by Roman Abramovich, he spent in excess of £70 million in transfer fees on players such as Tiago
Tiago Mendes
Tiago Cardoso Mendes , simply Tiago, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid.A versatile midfielder, adept as both a central or defensive unit and with good overall skills, he played professionally in four of Europe's major leagues: England, France, Italy and Spain.A...
(£10 million) from Benfica, Michael Essien
Michael Essien
Michael Kojo Essien is a Ghanaian footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Ghanaian national team. He is a midfielder who has often been touted as a box-to-box midfielder for his ability to exert boundless energy in supporting offensive and defensive play...
(£24.4 million) from Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais is a French association football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The...
, Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he is deputy vice-captain, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team...
(£24 million) from Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
, Mateja Kežman
Mateja Kežman
Mateja Kežman is a Serbian football striker who plays for FC BATE Borisov of the Belarusian Premier League....
(£5.4 million) from PSV, and Porto pair Ricardo Carvalho
Ricardo Carvalho
Ricardo Alberto Silveira de Carvalho OIH , is a footballer who plays as a centre back for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid.Carvalho was born in Amarante where he played for the local team, Amarante Futebol Clube. By his great performance as a youngster, he was spotted by the Portuguese powerhouse,...
(£19.8 million) and Paulo Ferreira
Paulo Ferreira
Paulo Renato Rebocho Ferreira is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Chelsea as a defender. However, in his recent years, Ferreira has been noted to play as an attacking forward, in which he is famous for his through balls out to the wingers and/or striker-Early career:He started his career in...
(£13.3 million).
Under Mourinho, Chelsea built on the potential developed in the previous season. By early December, they were at the top of the Premier League table and had reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League
UEFA Champions League 2004-05
The 2004–05 UEFA Champions League was the 50th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the 13th since it was rebranded as the UEFA Champions League in 1992. The competition was won by Liverpool, who beat Milan on penalties in the final, having come back from 3–0 down...
. He secured his first trophy by winning the League Cup against Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
3–2 (AET) in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. Towards the end of the match, Mourinho was escorted from the touchline after putting his finger to his mouth in the direction of Liverpool fans, as a response to taunts directed towards him whilst Liverpool were leading, before the equalising goal.
The club added more trophies as they secured their first top-flight domestic title in 50 years, setting a string of English football records in the process. He failed, however, to achieve back-to-back Champions League successes when Chelsea were knocked out of the competition by a controversial goal in the semi-finals by eventual winners Liverpool.
Chelsea started the next season well. They defeated Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
2–1 to win the FA Community Shield
FA Community Shield
The Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
, and topped the Premier League from the first weekend of the 2005–06
2005-06 in English football
The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...
season. Chelsea beat rivals Manchester United 3–0 to win their second consecutive Premiership title and Mourinho's fourth domestic title in a row. After the presentation of his championship medal, Mourinho threw his medal and blazer into the crowd. He was awarded a second medal within minutes which he also threw into the crowd.
The signing of Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
striker Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko is a Ukrainian footballer who plays for Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukraine national team as a striker. He is the third-highest scorer in the history of European club competition with 67 goals as of 2011-03-10, behind Filippo Inzaghi and Raúl. With 175 goals scored with A.C...
in the summer of 2006 for a club record fee would also prove to be a point of contention between Mourinho and Abramovich. Shevchenko, at the time of his signing, was one of the most highly regarded strikers in Europe during his time with Milan, where he won the Champions League, Scudetto, and Ballon d'Or awards in his seven years in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. Chelsea had attempted to sign Shevchenko in the preceding two years but Milan rebuffed Abramovich's interest in him. Shevchenko's first season at Chelsea was viewed as a major disappointment by the Chelsea fans as he only scored four league goals and 14 in all competitions. Shevchenko's strike partner, Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he is deputy vice-captain, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team...
, had the highest scoring season of his career that year and this led Shevchenko to be dropped from the starting line-up towards the end of the season by Mourinho. Notably, in the Champions League match at Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...
, Shevchenko was not even included on the bench. Abramovich's insistence on Mourinho playing the Ukrainian was widely viewed as a further source of friction between the two men. Shevchenko's signing was not the only one for Chelsea, however, as German captain Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack is a German professional footballer, who is currently playing for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern...
was also signed to strengthen the midfield on free agent from Bayern Munich. The Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic striker Eiður Guðjohnsen
Eiður Guðjohnsen
Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen is an Icelandic footballer who currently plays for AEK Athens F.C. in the Superleague Greece. He has previously played for Premier League club Chelsea and FC Barcelona of Spain, having made his name with Bolton Wanderers. He was the captain of the Iceland national team until...
, an important player for Chelsea under Ranieri and Mourinho, departed the club for FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
.
The 2006–07
2006-07 in English football
The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...
season saw growing media speculation that Mourinho would leave the club at the season's conclusion, due to alleged poor relations with owner Roman Abramovich and a power struggle with sporting director Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen
Frank Arnesen is a former Danish football player and currently sporting director at Hamburger SV. Arnesen was Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea....
and Abramovich advisor Piet de Visser
Piet de Visser
Piet de Visser is a Dutch football manager and scout. He is best known for scouting players like Romário and Ronaldo and successfully bringing them to Europe. He is currently a personal adviser to Roman Abramovich, the owner of the English club Chelsea F.C...
. Mourinho later cleared doubts regarding his future at Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
, stating that there would only be two ways for him to leave Chelsea: if Chelsea were not to offer him a new contract in June 2010, and if Chelsea were to sack him. He then launched an ambitious campaign for all four trophies available with the aim of becoming the first club in English football to complete "the quadruple".
Despite the unrest, Chelsea, under Mourinho, won the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
again by defeating Arsenal FC in the final at the Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
. The possibility, however, of the quadruple was brought to an end on 1 May 2007 when Liverpool eliminated Chelsea from the UEFA Champions League on penalties at Anfield, following a 1–1 aggregate draw. Days later, Chelsea failed to win the Premier League title by drawing 1–1 with Arsenal FC at the Emirates Stadium
Emirates Stadium
Ashburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
on 6 May 2007. This meant that the title went to Manchester United. This was Mourinho's first season without a league title win in five years. Mourinho led Chelsea to a 1–0 victory against Manchester United in the 2007 FA Cup Final, winning in the first final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
. This was his first FA Cup win which meant that he had won every domestic trophy available to a Premier League manager. There was, however, to be further friction between himself and Abramovich when Avram Grant was appointed as Director of Football, despite objections from Mourinho. Grant's position was further enhanced by being given a seat on the board. In spite of these tensions, the 2007–08 transfer season would see the departure of Dutch winger Arjen Robben
Arjen Robben
Arjen Robben is a Dutch footballer who plays for the German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. Though often classified as a forward, he usually plays behind the forwards as a winger, and he is also known for his dribbling skills...
to Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
and French midfielder Florent Malouda
Florent Malouda
Florent Johan Malouda is a French footballer who plays as a left winger for Chelsea and the French national team.-Châteauroux:A street footballer in his teen years, Malouda gradually developed into an interesting, new football talent, able to penetrate defenses with his technical skills and...
moved to Chelsea. Shevchenko was linked with a return to Milan but he remained at Chelsea for another year.
In the first match of the 2007–08 season, Chelsea beat Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
3–2 to set a new record of 64 consecutive home league matches without defeat, surpassing the record set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1981. Despite this feat, Chelsea's start to the 2007–08
2007-08 in English football
The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football in England.-European competitions:In October 2007 Arsenal equalled the UEFA Champions League record victory with a 7–0 win over Slavia Prague at the Emirates Stadium. The record was broken the following month when Liverpool...
season was not as successful as previous starts. The team lost at Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
and followed this with a goalless draw at home to Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
. Their opening game in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
saw them only manage a 1–1 home draw against the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
team Rosenborg BK
Rosenborg B.K.
Rosenborg Ballklub is a Norwegian football club from the city of Trondheim, currently playing in the Norwegian Premier League. With 22 league titles and nine Norwegian Cup titles, the club is the most successful in Norway and has dominated Norwegian football since the start of the 1990s...
in front of an almost half-empty stadium. Shevchenko scored Chelsea's only goal in that match.
Mourinho unexpectedly left Chelsea on 20 September 2007 "by mutual consent," although there had been a series of disagreements with Chairman Roman Abramovich. The Chelsea board held an emergency meeting and decided it was time to part with their manager. Mourinho left as the most successful manager in Chelsea's history, having won six trophies for the club in three years. He was also undefeated in all home league games. Avram Grant succeeded José Mourinho as Chelsea manager but failed to win any trophies in his year in charge, although he reached the final of the Champions League and League Cup. Grant's Chelsea also finished second in the Premier League.
Internazionale
On 2 June 2008, Mourinho was appointed the successor of Roberto ManciniRoberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped them win the Serie A league title, four Coppa...
at Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
on a three-year contract, and brought along with him much of his backroom staff who had served him at both Chelsea and Porto. He chose Giuseppe Baresi
Giuseppe Baresi
Giuseppe Baresi is an Italian footballer, who spent most of his career with Internazionale. He is currently Internazionale's assistant manager.-Career:...
, a former Inter player and ex-head coach of their youth academy, as his assistant. He spoke solely in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
in his first press conference as Inter boss, claiming to have learnt it "in three weeks." Mourinho stated that he only intended to make a few major signings in the summer. By the end of the transfer window, he had brought three new players to the side: Brazilian winger Mancini (€
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
13 million), Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari
Sulley Muntari
Sulleyman Ali "Sulley" Muntari is a Ghanaian international footballer who currently plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan in Italy. He has 66 caps for The Black Stars of Ghana.-Early career:...
for reported €14 million, and Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma
Ricardo Quaresma
Ricardo Andrade Quaresma Bernardo is a Portuguese footballer of partial Romani descent who currently plays as a winger for Turkish Süper Lig side Beşiktaş J.K and the Portuguese national team. Quaresma began his career at Sporting Clube de Portugal, and has also played for FC Barcelona, FC Porto,...
for a cash/player exchange fee of €18.6 million plus young Portuguese midfielder Pelé.
In his first season as Inter head coach, Mourinho won the Italian SuperCup
2008 Supercoppa Italiana
The 2008 Supercoppa Italiana is a football match that was played by Serie A 2007-08 winners Internazionale and Coppa Italia 2007-08 winners Roma. The match proved to be a tightly contested affair. After exchanging goals, it appeared that Inter was on its way to victory on Mario Balotelli's goal...
, beating Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
on penalties, and finished top of Serie A. Inter, however, were eliminated 2–0 on aggregate by Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
in the first knock-out round of the UEFA Champions League, and he also failed to win the Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
, being defeated 3–1 on aggregate by Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...
in the semi-finals. As UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
was beginning to push the larger clubs in top leagues to play more homegrown players, Mourinho regularly played 18-year-old Italian forward Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli is an Italian footballer who plays as a striker for English team Manchester City and the Italian national team.He started his professional football career at Lumezzane and only played for the first team twice before having an unsuccessful trial at FC Barcelona, and subsequently...
and promoted academy defender Davide Santon
Davide Santon
Davide Santon is an Italian professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Newcastle United, and for the Italian national team...
to the first team permanently, installing an Italian contingent into a team previously composed of mostly foreign players. Both teenagers played a part in the Scudetto-winning season and played enough games to earn their first senior trophy.
Despite his domestic successes in winning the Scudetto by a ten point margin, Jose Mourinho's first season in Italy was viewed as disappointing by some Inter fans as they failed to improve on the performances of his predecessor Roberto Mancini in the Champions League. Inter put in a series of lacklustre group stage performances that included a shock 1–0 home loss to Panathinaikos and an away draw with Cypriot
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
minnows Anorthosis. They qualified, however, for the knockout stages of the Champions League but failed to make it to the quarter-finals after being defeated by Manchester United.
Mourinho also caused immediate ripples in Italian football through his controversial relationships with the Italian press and media, and feuds with major Serie A coaches such as Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti is an Italian football manager, Nicknamed Carletto, Ancelotti played as a midfielder and had a successful career with Roma – captaining the team – with whom he won one Scudetto and 4 Coppa Italia and was part of the legendary late 80's Milan team, with whom he won two Scudetti and...
, then of AC Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
, Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti is a retired Italian footballer and current coach of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.-Playing career:Born in Certaldo, Province of Florence, Spalletti played for Serie C teams such as Entella, Spezia, Viareggio and Empoli....
of Roma, and Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri, is an Italian football manager, currently in charge as head coach of Internazionale.He has also managed many other well-known clubs in Europe, including Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Parma, Juventus and Roma.-Early life:Ranieri attended St...
of Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
. At a press conference in March 2009, he insulted the first two rivals by claiming they would end the season with no honours – and accused the Italian sport journalists of "intellectual prostitution" on their behalf. This rant promptly became very popular in Italy, especially regarding the "zero titles" quote used by Mourinho, and incorrectly pronounced by him as zeru tituli (in correct Italian it would have been zero titoli), which was later extensively referred to by football journalists in Italy. It also became the title's catchphrase used by fans to celebrate Inter's 17th scudetto later that season. The catchphrase was even used by Nike to present the celebration shirts for Inter's Serie A title. After the Coppa Italia final
2009 Coppa Italia Final
-Post-match:After the match, some Lazio players wore a T-shirt to joke A.S. Roma rivals with written on it Io campione, tu zero titoli , quoting a sentence said by José Mourinho who had, earlier in the season, correctly predicted that Milan, Juve and Roma would have completed the season with no...
in May, fans of Roma's cross-town rivals Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
, the new Coppa Italia winners, wore shirts with Io campione, tu zero titoli ("I'm a champion, you have no honours") on it, quoting Mourinho's "zeru tituli" statement.
On 16 May 2009, Inter mathematically won the Serie A title, after runners-up Milan lost to Udinese
Udinese Calcio
Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....
. This loss left the Nerazzurri seven points above their crosstown rivals with only two games remaining. They would eventually finish ten points clear of Milan.
On 28 July 2009, Mourinho was reported to have shown interest in taking over at Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
when Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
retired. He was quoted as saying, "I would consider going to Manchester United but United have to consider if they want me to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson. If they do, then of course."
Under Mourinho, Inter have remained active in the transfer market. Adriano
Adriano Leite Ribeiro
Adriano Leite Ribeiro , commonly known as simply Adriano, is a Brazilian footballer who played striker who currently plays for Corinthians...
left Inter in April 2009, and the exit of the Brazilian striker was followed by the Argentine duo Julio Cruz
Julio Ricardo Cruz
Julio Ricardo Cruz is a former Argentine footballer.-Early career:A tall, physical striker at , Cruz started his career with Banfield in 1993. He moved to River Plate in 1996.-Feyenoord:...
and Hernán Crespo
Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine footballer who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in...
. Legendary Portuguese attacking midfielder and veteran Luís Figo
Luís Figo
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, is a Portuguese former international footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale, during a career which spanned over a period of 20 years. He retired from football on 31 May 2009...
retired. Figo was on the verge of leaving Inter under Mancini due to a lack of playing time but in his final season, Mourinho used him frequently. Mourinho signed Argentine striker Diego Milito
Diego Milito
Diego Alberto Milito is an Argentine footballer who plays as a striker for the Italian Serie A team Internazionale. He also plays for the Argentine national team. A prolific and consistent center-forward, Milito has statistically averaged just over a goal every two appearances, over the course of...
, who fell just one goal short of winning the top scorer award with Genoa
Genoa C.F.C.
Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa , is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria...
, as well as Thiago Motta
Thiago Motta
Thiago Motta Santon Olivares , known as Thiago Motta, is a Brazilian-born Italian footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Internazionale....
and Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder is a Dutch footballer playing as an attacking midfielder for Internazionale. He was named UEFA midfielder of the season as well as one of the three best midfielders in the world for 2010 by FIFA....
, to bolster the midfield. Perhaps his most notable signing of the summer of his second season was a swap deal of Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....
for FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
's Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
ian striker Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o Fils is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Russian team Anzhi Makhachkala. He is also the current captain of the Cameroon national team.Eto'o trained at Kadji Sports Academy...
and a reported 35 million pound transfer fee also went to Inter. This transfer was the second most expensive in the history of the transfer market, after Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, , commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team...
moved to Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
earlier in the summer. Eto'o got off to a promising start with Inter by scoring two goals in the first two matches of the season.
Ricardo Quaresma
Ricardo Quaresma
Ricardo Andrade Quaresma Bernardo is a Portuguese footballer of partial Romani descent who currently plays as a winger for Turkish Süper Lig side Beşiktaş J.K and the Portuguese national team. Quaresma began his career at Sporting Clube de Portugal, and has also played for FC Barcelona, FC Porto,...
's signing from Mourinho's old club FC Porto was viewed as a missing link in the Inter squad, but his play disappointed the club and led him to be loaned off to Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
midway through the season, ironically Mourinho's other former club. Mancini also failed to dominate in the midfield and addressing these shortcomings in the transfer market became a priority for Inter. Inter's lack of a creative playmaker, or trequartista, has been blamed for the Champions League failure. In their attempt to deal with this issue, Inter signed Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder is a Dutch footballer playing as an attacking midfielder for Internazionale. He was named UEFA midfielder of the season as well as one of the three best midfielders in the world for 2010 by FIFA....
from Real Madrid.
Mourinho once again sparked controversy in the summer with his argument with Italy national team coach Marcello Lippi
Marcello Lippi
Marcello Lippi, Commendatore OMRI is a former Italian World Cup-winning football manager and former player. He served as Italian national team head coach from 16 July 2004 to 12 July 2006 and led Italy to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was re-appointed as Italian head coach in the summer of 2008...
. Lippi predicted that Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
would win the Scudetto in the 2009–10 season, which Mourinho viewed Lippi's comments as disrespectful to Inter. The previous year, Lippi predicted Inter would win the title and Mourinho did not respond to his prediction. Lippi responded by saying that Mourinho was equal to Ciro Ferrara
Ciro Ferrara
Ciro Ferrara is a former Italian footballer and current head coach of the Italy U-21 team. He spent his playing career as a defender initially at Napoli and later on at Juventus. He is also a former manager of Juventus.-Napoli:...
and Leonardo
Leonardo Araújo
Leonardo Nascimento de Araújo, known as Leonardo , is a football manager and a former midfielder. He is currently active as director of football of French club Paris Saint-Germain....
at Juventus and Milan, respectively, only that he was more experienced. After the row with Lippi, he clashed with Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro, Ufficiale OMRI is a former Italian footballer considered one of the greatest defenders of all time and was given the name "Muro di Berlino" which means The Berlin wall by Italian supporters. He spent the majority of his career in Italy...
over Davide Santon
Davide Santon
Davide Santon is an Italian professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Newcastle United, and for the Italian national team...
's place in the Inter squad. Cannavaro had said that Santon might have to leave Inter to get regular playing time to gain selection for Italy in the World Cup. Mourinho responded by saying that Cannavaro was acting like a coach.
Inter struggled in their first two matches of the new season. The team lost the Italian SuperCup to Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
2–1 and drew 1–1 with newly promoted Bari
A.S. Bari
Associazione Sportiva Bari is an Italian football club founded in 1908, they are based in Bari, Apulia and plays in Serie B. The club have spent many seasons bouncing between the top two divisions in Italian football, Serie A and Serie B....
at the San Siro. Mourinho's team improved dramatically since then, however, as he built a formidable midfield with Sneijder at the heart of it and the likes of new signing Thiago Motta and veterans Javier Zanetti
Javier Zanetti
Javier Adelmar Zanetti is an Argentine footballer who plays for Serie A club Inter. Javier Zanetti has played for Inter since 1995, taking the captain's armband from 29 August 1999. Known for his versatility, he is adept on both the left and right wing, having played on both flanks as a fullback...
and Dejan Stanković
Dejan Stankovic
Dejan Stanković is a Serbian association football player who plays for the Italian Serie A side Inter. He captained the Serbian national football team until 2011, when he announced his retirement from international football...
. Inter went on score more than 30 goals (as of the end of November), thrashing derby rivals Milan 4–0, with new signings Diego Milito and Motta both scoring, and hammering Genoa 5–0, the largest margin of victory in the Serie A that season. He was sent off in the December Derby d'Italia
Derby d'Italia
The Derby d'Italia was coined back in 1967 by the famous Italian sports journalist Gianni Brera as the biannual football fixture in Italian football between Internazionale of Milan and Juventus of Turin...
away fixture after he sarcastically applauded the referee for what he felt was a dubious free-kick given to Juventus and Inter went on to lose 2–1, courtesy of a Claudio Marchisio
Claudio Marchisio
Claudio Marchisio is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team. A product of the Juventus youth system, he has spent his whole career thus far at his hometown club, with the exception of a season-long loan spell at Empoli...
winner in the second-half.
Later during the season, Mourinho maintained a strongly critical position against refereeing in Italy, which reached its peak during the 22 February 2010 league game against Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...
, ended in a 0–0 tie, with two Inter players being sent off in the first half. At the end of the first half, José Mourinho made a handcuffs gesture towards a camera which was considered by the Football Association as violent and critical of the refereeing performance, and caused a three-game ban against the Portuguese coach. Also, his difficult relationship with young striker Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli is an Italian footballer who plays as a striker for English team Manchester City and the Italian national team.He started his professional football career at Lumezzane and only played for the first team twice before having an unsuccessful trial at FC Barcelona, and subsequently...
and the team's loss of form that led Inter to achieve only seven points in six games (and three of such games, including a shock 1–3 defeat at the hands of Sicilian minnows Catania
Calcio Catania
Calcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and based in Catania, Sicily. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B, gaining promotion to Italy's top league Serie A five times...
, happening during Mourinho's ban) were heavily criticized by the media and pundits. Despite this, Mourinho achieved what was hailed as one of his career highlights after Inter managed to progress to the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
quarter-finals by defeating Mourinho's former team Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in both legs (2–1 win at San Siro, then followed by a 1–0 win at Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
).
On 6 April 2010, José Mourinho became the first manager in history to take three different teams to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
(this record was equalled by Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....
manager Louis van Gaal
Louis van Gaal
Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal OON is a Dutch football manager formerly in charge of Ajax, Netherlands, Barcelona, AZ and Bayern Munich...
a day later) after his Internazionale managed to overcome CSKA Moscow 0–1 in Russia in the second leg of their quarter-final tie, which ended 2–0 on aggregate. Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder is a Dutch footballer playing as an attacking midfielder for Internazionale. He was named UEFA midfielder of the season as well as one of the three best midfielders in the world for 2010 by FIFA....
's goal in the sixth minute proved the difference in a match played in laid-back style. This marked the first time in seven years that Internazionale managed to make it to the semi-finals of the competition. On 13 April, Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
continued its good season, having managed to qualify for the Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
final, for the first time under Mourinho, by beating Fiorentina 1–0 away (2–0 on aggregate).
On 28 April 2010, José Mourinho reached the UEFA Champions League Final
2010 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, on Saturday, 22 May 2010, to determine the winners of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. It was the first Champions League final to be played on a Saturday, rather than the...
for the second time in his career after Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
beat current holders Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
3–2 on aggregate, after losing 1–0 at Nou Camp (which Mourinho called "the most beautiful defeat of my life"). This brought Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
back into a UEFA Champions League Final 38 years after their last (a defeat to AFC Ajax). Mourinho was involved in a brief scuffle with Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés
Víctor Valdés
Víctor Valdés i Arribas is a Spanish football goalkeeper who currently plays for FC Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga.He is the most successful goalkeeper in Barcelona's history and is widely considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world, having won a total of 17 titles including five...
while attempting to join in the Inter celebrations. Mourinho afterwards stated that that "anti-Madridismo" had motivated the Barça fans, suggesting that they were obsessed with reaching the final and winning the tournament in their arch-rival's home ground. Diario Marca proclaimed that Mourinho had passed the test to become the next head coach of Real Madrid, as their fans celebrated the elimination of Barcelona.
On 2 May, after a 2–0 away win at Rome against Lazio, Inter almost secured the Serie A title. On 5 May 2010, the team won the Coppa Italia, defeating AS Roma 1–0, and on the 16 May 2010 Inter beat Siena 1–0 to secure the domestic double.
On 22 May 2010, Inter won the UEFA Champions League
2010 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, on Saturday, 22 May 2010, to determine the winners of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. It was the first Champions League final to be played on a Saturday, rather than the...
beating Bayern Munich 2–0, and in doing so Inter became the first Italian club to complete The Treble
The Treble
The term treble or Treble is used in association football to refer to a team winning three trophies in a single season. Honours usually considered to contribute to a treble are the top-tier domestic league competition, domestic cup competitions, and continental tournaments; although this depends to...
and Mourinho personally celebrated the second "treble win" in his managerial career and second Champions League win.
The day after having won the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
, Mourinho claimed that he was "sad, as almost for sure it's my last game with Inter". He then added that "if you don't coach Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
then you will always have a gap in your career".
After days of discussions between Real Madrid and Inter, a record breaking compensation package was successfully agreed on 27 May 2010, and Mourinho was consequently released by Inter.
Real Madrid
On 28 May 2010, it was confirmed that Mourinho would take over from Manuel PellegriniManuel Pellegrini
Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti is a Chilean manager and former footballer. His current club is La Liga side Málaga CF.-Club career:...
at the Santiago Bernabéu
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators....
. On 31 May 2010, Mourinho was unveiled as the new manager of Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
after signing a four-year deal at the club, and became the 11th coach in the past seven years at Real Madrid.
By the end of the transfer window, after the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
, he had brought four new players to is new side: the two Germans Mesut Özil
Mesut Özil
Mesut Özil is a footballer who plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and for the German national team. Özil has been a youth national team member since 2006, and a member of the German national team since 2009. He gained international attention during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was nominated...
(€15 million) and Sami Khedira
Sami Khedira
Sami Khedira is a German footballer currently playing for Real Madrid and the German national team. Khedira moved to Real Madrid from VfB Stuttgart in 2010...
(€13 million), Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
defender Ricardo Carvalho
Ricardo Carvalho
Ricardo Alberto Silveira de Carvalho OIH , is a footballer who plays as a centre back for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid.Carvalho was born in Amarante where he played for the local team, Amarante Futebol Clube. By his great performance as a youngster, he was spotted by the Portuguese powerhouse,...
(€8 million) and the winger Ángel di María
Ángel Di María
Ángel Fabián di María Hernández is an Argentine footballer who currently plays as a winger for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Argentine national team...
(€25 million plus €11 million on incentives).
On 29 August 2010, Real Madrid drew 0–0 at RCD Mallorca
RCD Mallorca
Real Club Deportivo Mallorca is a Spanish football team based on Palma, Majorca, in the Balearic Islands. Founded on 5 March 1916, the team currently plays in the Spanish first division, holding home games at Son Moix....
in Mourinho's first La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
game as manager.
When asked about all the missed opportunities against Levante
Levante UD
Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community.Founded in 1909, it plays in La Liga, holding home games at Estadi Ciutat de València.-Early years:...
in La Liga and Auxerre
AJ Auxerre
Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise is a French association football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Auxerre plays its home matches at the Stade l'Abbé-Deschamps on the banks of the...
in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
, Mourinho said: "One day some poor rival is going to pay for the chances we've missed today." The following match at the Santiago Bernabéu
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators....
ended with a 6–1 victory over Deportivo La Coruña
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia; founded in 1906 and currently playing in Segunda División...
. The following league games confirmed Mourinho's statement, defeating Málaga
Málaga CF
Málaga Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Málaga, Andalusia. The team currently plays in Spain's La Liga.Málaga CF is generally seen as the successor to CD Málaga, one of the most historical Andalusian football clubs, by being a near-identical looking football club that even shares...
by 1–4 and Racing Santander
Racing de Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santander, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded in 1913, it currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at Estadio El Sardinero, with a capacity for 22,400 spectators....
again by 6–1.
On 29 November 2010, Mourinho's Madrid were defeated on his first clásico
El Clásico
El Clásico , also known as El derbi Español, is the name given in football to a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. It is contested twice a year in the Spanish La Liga competition, and more often if the clubs meet in other competitions...
encounter against Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
. The match, held in Camp Nou
Camp Nou
Camp Nou , sometimes called "the Nou Camp" in English, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The stadium, located in the west of the city, has been the home of FC Barcelona since its construction in 1957....
ended 5-0 to the hosts, with Real Madrid director Florentino Pérez
Florentino Pérez
Florentino Pérez Rodríguez is a Spanish businessman, civil engineer, former politician, and current president of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, as well as ACS...
regarding it the worst game in the history of Real Madrid. Sporting director Valdano also criticized Mourinho for his 'inability to bring a major correction to the game' and 'not leaving his bench for the (majority) of the match'. When asked by a media reporter however, Mourinho refused to call the loss a 'humiliation'.
On 30 November 2010, Mourinho was fined £33,500 for appearing to instruct Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso
Xabier "Xabi" Alonso Olano is a Spanish World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Real Madrid as a midfielder.Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad, the main team of his home region Gipuzkoa. After a brief loan period at Eibar he returned to Sociedad where then manager John Toshack appointed...
and Sergio Ramos
Sérgio Ramos
Sérgio Bruno Antunes Selores Ramos is a Portuguese basketball player.He measures 2.00 metres and plays as a Forward . He announced the end of his international career, after Portugal's exit from the EuroBasket 2007...
to attempt to receive a strategic second yellow card in the 4–0 win against Ajax. He was also banned for two Champions League matches, the second of which is suspended for three years.
On 22 December 2010, José Mourinho won a match by the widest margin in his career, winning 8–0 against Levante
Levante UD
Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community.Founded in 1909, it plays in La Liga, holding home games at Estadi Ciutat de València.-Early years:...
, also of La Liga, in the first leg of their quarter-final of the Copa del Rey
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
.
On 20 April 2011, Mourinho won his first trophy in Spanish football as Real Madrid defeated Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
1–0 in the Copa del Rey final
2011 Copa del Rey Final
-Aftermath:Real Madrid players celebrated their victory that evening by riding a double-decker bus through Madrid where they were greeted by cheering crowds. While holding the trophy aloft, Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos dropped the cup in front of the bus, where it was crushed. Ramos later...
held at the Estadio Mestalla in Valencia ending Real Madrid's eighteen-year-long cup drought.
Managerial statistics
| eam | at | rom | o | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | GF | GA | +/− | ||||
| Benfica | |
20 Sep 2000 | 5 Dec 2000 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 9 | ||
| União de Leiria | |
14 Apr 2001 | 20 Jan 2002 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 47 | 28 | ||
| Porto | |
23 Jan 2002 | 26 May 2004 | 127 | 88 | 24 | 15 | 222 | 79 | ||
| Chelsea Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four... |
 |
2 Jun 2004 | 20 Sep 2007 | 185 | 131 | 36 | 18 | 330 | 119 | ||
| Internazionale F.C. Internazionale Milano Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always... |
|
2 Jun 2008 | 28 May 2010 | 108 | 68 | 25 | 15 | 185 | 94 | ||
| Real Madrid Real Madrid C.F. Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la... |
|
31 May 2010 | Present | 79 | 60 | 11 | 8 | 214 | 60 | ||
| Total | 530 | 364 | 104 | 62 | 1015 | 389 | +626 | ||||
Statistics accurate as of match played 26 November 2011
Unbeaten home league record
Between 23 February 2002 and 2 April 2011, Mourinho went 150 home league matches unbeaten: 38 (W36–D2) with Porto, 60 (W46–D14) with ChelseaChelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
, 38 (W29–D9) with Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
and 14 (W14–D0) with Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
. The run was broken by Sporting de Gijón
Sporting de Gijón
Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club from Gijón, Asturias. Founded in 1 June 1905, it currently plays in Spanish first division....
on 2 April 2011, when they defeated Real Madrid 1–0 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators....
in La Liga
2010–11 La Liga
The 2010–11 La Liga season was the 80th since its establishment. The campaign began on 28 August 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011. A total of 20 teams contested the league, 17 of which already contested in the 2009–10 season and three of which were promoted from the Segunda División...
. After the match, Mourinho entered Sporting de Gijón's dressing room and congratulated them.
His only prior home league defeat had come when Porto lost 3–2 to Beira-Mar on 23 February 2002.
Managerial
In eight seasons of club management, including an eight month sabbatical in 2007–08, Mourinho has led his club to win its domestic league six times, the UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
twice and the UEFA Cup once. Since 2002, Mourinho has not gone a full season or a calendar year without winning at least one trophy.
Porto (2002–2004)
- Primeira Liga (2)
- 2002–03, 2003–04
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (1)
- 2003
- Taça de PortugalTaça de PortugalThe Taça de Portugal is the main Portuguese national football knock-out competition. The tournament has been officially known as the Taça de Portugal Millennium since 2008, due to its sponsorship by Portuguese private bank Millennium BCP. It has occurred on a yearly basis since 1938 and is...
(1) - 2002–03
- UEFA Cup (1)
- 2002–03
- UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
(1) - 2003–04
Chelsea (2004–2007)
- FA Premier LeagueFA Premier LeagueThe Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
(2) - 2004–05, 2005–06
- FA Community ShieldFA Community ShieldThe Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
(1) - 20052005 FA Community ShieldThe 2005 FA Community Shield was a football match held at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on 7 August 2005. It contested by Arsenal, who were FA Cup winners in 2005, and Chelsea, who won the 2004–05 Premier League. Chelsea won the match 2–1....
- Football League CupFootball League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
(2) - 2004–05, 2006–07
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
(1) - 2006–07
Internazionale (2008–2010)
- Serie ASerie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
(2) - 2008–09, 2009–102009–10 Serie AThe 2009–10 Serie A was the seventy-eighth season since its establishment. There were three promoted teams from the Serie B, replacing the three teams that were relegated following the 2008–09 season. Nike provided a new match ball - the T90 Ascente - for this season...
- Supercoppa ItalianaSupercoppa ItalianaThe Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
(1) - 20082008 Supercoppa ItalianaThe 2008 Supercoppa Italiana is a football match that was played by Serie A 2007-08 winners Internazionale and Coppa Italia 2007-08 winners Roma. The match proved to be a tightly contested affair. After exchanging goals, it appeared that Inter was on its way to victory on Mario Balotelli's goal...
- Coppa ItaliaCoppa ItaliaThe Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
(1) - 2009–102009–10 Coppa ItaliaThe 2009–10 Coppa Italia was the sixty-second season of the tournament. The competition started on 2 August 2009 and ended on 5 May 2010.-Serie A :-Serie B :-Prima Divisione :-Seconda Divisione :...
- UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
(1) - 2009–10
Real Madrid (2010–present)
- Copa del ReyCopa del ReyThe Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
(1) - 2010–112010–11 Copa del ReyThe 2010–11 Copa del Rey was the 107th staging of the Copa del Rey. The competition began on August 21, 2010 and ended on April 20, 2011 with the final, held at the Estadio Mestalla in Valencia, in which Real Madrid lifted the trophy for the eighteenth time in their history with a 1–0 victory over...
Individual
- Primeira Liga Manager of the Year (2): 2002–03, 2003–04
- Premier League Manager of the Year (2): 2004–05, 2005–06
- Premier League Manager of the Month (3): November 2004, January 2005, March 2007
- Serie A Manager of the YearSerie A Coach of the YearThe Serie A Coach of the Year is a yearly award organized by the Italian Footballers' Association given to the coach who has been considered to have performed the best over the previous Serie A season. The award is part of the "Oscar del Calcio" awards event...
(2): 2009, 2010 - Albo Panchina d'OroAlbo Panchina d'OroAlbo Panchina d'Oro is an annual title awarded to the best Italian association football coach of the Serie A season. The Albo Panchina d'Argento is awarded to the best non-Serie A coach for winning promotion.- Recipients :- External links :...
Coach of the Year (1): 2010–11 - Miguel Muñoz TrophyMiguel Muñoz TrophyThe Miguel Muñoz Trophy is a football award established by Spanish newspaper MARCA for the 2005-06 season, in memory of the legendary Real Madrid manager Miguel Muñoz....
for Best Coach of the Year (1): 2010–11 - UEFA Manager of the Year (2): 2002–03, 2003–04
- UEFA Team of the YearUEFA Team of the YearThe UEFA Team of the Year is a football award given by UEFA through a poll on its . This award started in 2001 to allow users and visitors of the organization's website to choose their own eleven players and a coach based on their overall performances in European club football and international...
Coach of the Year (4): 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010 - BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach AwardBBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach AwardThe BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the coach who was considered to have made the most substantative contribution to British sport in that year. The award is...
(1): 2005 - La Gazzetta dello SportLa Gazzetta dello SportLa Gazzetta dello Sport is an Italian newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. It was first published on April 3, 1896, allowing it to cover the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens...
Man of the Year (1): 2010 - Onze d'OrOnze d'OrThe Onze d'Or is a football award handed out by French magazine Onze Mondial at the end of the year since 1976...
Best Coach (2): 2005, 2010 - FIFA Ballon d'OrFIFA Ballon d'OrThe FIFA Ballon d'Or is an association football award given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season...
Best Coach (1): 20102010 FIFA Ballon d'OrThe 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or was the inaugural year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The award merged FIFA's former World Player of the Year awards with the Ballon d'Or, previously presented by the French media to the top men's player in Europe. The awards... - IFFHS World's Best Club Coach of the Year (3): 2004, 2005, 2010
- World Soccer MagazineWorld Soccer MagazineWorld Soccer is an English language football magazine published by IPC Media. It specialises in the international football scene. Its regular contributing writers include Brian Glanville, Sid Lowe and Tim Vickery. World Soccer is a member of the European Sports Magazines , an umbrella group of...
World Manager of the Year (3): 2004, 2005, 2010 - International Sports Press Association Best Manager in the World (1): 2010
- CNIDCNID Awards in footballThe LPFP Awards are a number of awards given annually during the Portuguese League for Professional Football gala, and the winners are chosen by a vote amongst the LPFP pairs. Between 2006 and 2010 the winners were chosen only by a vote amongst the members of Sports National Press Club...
Best Portuguese Manager in Foreign Countries (2): 2008–09, 2009–10
Special awards
- Honoris causaHonorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
– degree by the Technical University of LisbonTechnical University of LisbonThe Technical University of Lisbon is a Portuguese public university. It was created in 1930 in Lisbon, as a confederation of older schools, and comprises, nowadays, the faculties and institutes of veterinary medicine; agricultural sciences; economics and business administration; engineering,...
for his accomplishments in football - Football Extravaganza's League of Legends (2011)
Controversy
Mourinho has often been seen as a controversial figure in football. His time at Chelsea, in particular, fueled this viewpoint as he frequently made outspoken comments that saw him face punishment from the footballing authorities.On 27 January 2003, after a Porto-Boavista derby in Estádio das Antas
Estadio das Antas
The Estádio das Antas was the third stadium of the Portuguese football side FC Porto. It was in use from 1952 to 2004, replacing the earlier Campo da Constituição and later replaced by Estádio do Dragão. As well the stadium, it had an indoor arena and three training grounds...
, Mourinho refused to shake hands with Boavista coach Jaime Pacheco
Jaime Pacheco
Jaime Moreira Pacheco is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a current manager.During his career he played, among others, for F.C. Porto and Sporting Clube de Portugal...
, quoting "I don't shake hands with someone I don't know". The two coaches were exchanging words all week before the match. Pacheco returned the favor in February 2007, before the Champions League match between Porto and Chelsea, calling Mourinho sick and mentally retarded.
On 31 January 2004, after a Sporting Clube de Portugal vs. FC Porto 1–1 match in Lisbon, Porto keeper Vítor Baía
Vítor Baía
Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH , is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a goalkeeper.His career was intimately connected with F.C...
and Sporting midfielder Rui Jorge exchanged shirts. Mourinho took Rui Jorge's shirt from Baia and ripped it. Mourinho was not punished for the action. On 26 February, after the Porto vs. Manchester United match at Dragão
Estádio do Dragão
The Estádio do Dragão is a football stadium located in Porto, Portugal, with an all-seated capacity of 50,399. Inaugurated on November 16, 2003, it is the current home ground of F.C. Porto, having replaced the club's old venue, the Estádio das Antas...
, an angered Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
(United's manager) ran away from Mourinho and refused to shake hands with him. Mourinho called him to apologize. In March, before a Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
vs. Celtic match for the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
, Mourinho criticized Celtic's coach Martin O'Neill
Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...
and his team for playing non-attractive football, and recalled the 2003 UEFA Cup final between Porto and Celtic, when, as he said "we kept the ball and they just ran all over the pitch trying to get to us with their horrible and aggressive style". O'Neill responded harshly criticizing the "diving" Porto players used to get fouls. "Mourinho's comments are just unbelievable. I just treat them with the response they deserve. He's still to get over the embarrassment of Vitor Baia lying out on the turf for three or four days" O'Neill said.
On 6 October 2004, Adrian Mutu
Adrian Mutu
Adrian Mutu is a Romanian footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Cesena.-Argeş Piteşti:Mutu began his professional career with his home club Argeş Piteşti...
accused Mourinho of trying to prevent him from playing in a World Cup qualifier. Mourinho was informed by the Chelsea medical team that the player was unfit after a knee injury, but Mutu disagreed and insisted he was fit to play. The fitness disagreement soon became irrelevant as Mutu tested positive for cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
in a routine drugs test and he was sacked on 29 October 2004.
Following a Champions League tie between Chelsea and Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
in March 2005, Mourinho accused Anders Frisk
Anders Frisk
Anders Frisk is an insurance agent by trade and a former football referee. Frisk chose to go into early retirement from refereeing due to pressure from death threats made against him and his family. These death threats were made by Chelsea fans because Frisk sent off Didier Drogba in the first...
and Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard
Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch football manager of Dutch and Surinamese descent and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his coaching career, he has been at the helm of the Dutch national side,...
of breaking FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
rules by having a meeting at half–time. Mourinho insisted that this biased the referee and caused him to send off Chelsea striker Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he is deputy vice-captain, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team...
in the second half. Frisk admitted that Rijkaard had tried to speak to him but insisted that he had sent him away. The situation intensified when Frisk began to receive death threats from angered fans, causing the referee to retire prematurely. The UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
referee's chief, Volker Roth
Volker Roth
Volker Roth is a retired football referee from Germany. He is mostly known for supervising two matches in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. After retirement he became a referee's advisor for UEFA.-External links:*...
, labeled Mourinho an "enemy of football", although UEFA distanced themselves from the comment. After an investigation of the incident, Mourinho was given a two-match touchline ban for his behaviour and both Chelsea and the manager were fined by UEFA, though the body confirmed that it did not hold Mourinho personally responsible for Frisk's retirement.
On 2 June 2005, Mourinho was fined £200,000 for his part in the meeting with then Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
full-back Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole is an Barbadian-English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left-back and has been named one of the best in the world....
in January 2005 in breach of the Premier League rules. His fine was later reduced to £75,000 after a hearing in August. Later that year, he labeled Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger, OBE is a French association football manager and former player, who has managed English Premier League side Arsenal since 1996...
"a voyeur" after being irked at what he saw as the latter's apparent obsession with Chelsea. Wenger was furious with the remark and considered taking legal action against Mourinho. However, the animosity died down and the two managers made peace after Mourinho admitted that he regretted making the comment.
After a league match with Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
on 17 December 2006, Mourinho branded Andrew Johnson "untrustworthy" following a challenge with Chelsea keeper Henrique Hilário
Henrique Hilário
Henrique Hilário Meireles Alves Sampaio , known as Hilário, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League as a goalkeeper.-Portugal:...
. Everton issued a statement threatening legal action and calling on Mourinho to apologize, which he later did.
In August 2009, Mourinho again found himself causing controversy after commenting that the performance of Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
player Sulley Muntari
Sulley Muntari
Sulleyman Ali "Sulley" Muntari is a Ghanaian international footballer who currently plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan in Italy. He has 66 caps for The Black Stars of Ghana.-Early career:...
was lacking fitness and energy due to fasting during the month of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
. He was reported to have said, "Muntari had some problems related to Ramadan, perhaps with this heat it's not good for him to be doing this [fasting]. Ramadan has not arrived at the ideal moment for a player to play a football match." The comments sparked an angry response from Muslim leader Mohamed Nour Dachan, who responded, "I think Mourinho could do with talking a little less. A practising [Muslim] player is not weakened because we know from the Institute of Sports Medicine that mental and psychological stability can give a sportsman an extra edge on the field."
On 21 April 2010, after Inter's 3–1 win against FC Barcelona in Milan, Catalan media alleged that Mourinho and Portuguese referee Olegário Benquerença
Olegário Benquerença
Olegário Manuel Bartolo Faustino Benquerença is a Portuguese football referee. As of 11 March 2009, he has refereed 11 matches in the Champions League and 11 matches in the UEFA Cup . He also refereed in qualifiers for 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, and 2010 FIFA World Cup...
(who was the referee of the San Siro match) were long time friends and also that they co-own a restaurant called O Menino in Leiria
Leiria
Leiria is a city in Leiria Municipality in the Centro Region, Portugal. It is the capital of Leiria District. The city proper has 50,200 inhabitants and the entire municipality has nearly 120,000...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, accusing Benquerença's friendship with Mourinho of being responsible for Inter's win. Catalan radio and media also claimed that Benquerença is called Larapio ("thief") in Portugal, since a 2004 match between Benfica and Porto in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
in which Benquerença disallowed a dubious goal by Benfica's Petit
Petit (Portuguese footballer)
Armando Gonçalves Teixeira , commonly known as Petit, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for 1. FC Köln in the German first division, as a defensive midfielder....
, thus helping Porto to win 1–0; however, that match took place the season after Mourinho's departure from the club. Mourinho himself denied any such allegiances. "I have no restaurant with anybody" he said, "maybe [Barcelona manager] Pep
Josep Guardiola
Josep "Pep" Guardiola i Sala , is a Spanish football manager and former player. Guardiola played as a defensive midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career with FC Barcelona, whom he currently manages. He was part of Johan Cruyff's dream team that won Barcelona's first European Cup....
[Guardiola] has a restaurant in Oslo", taunting Norwegian referee Tom Henning Øvrebø
Tom Henning Øvrebø
Tom Henning Øvrebø is a Norwegian football referee. Born in Oslo, Øvrebø is a former UEFA Elite referee, who has refereed matches in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League...
's role in Barcelona's qualification against Chelsea in London for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League semifinal.
On 27 September 2010, Mourinho blasted out at the press after he was pushed too far regarding the exclusion of Pedro Leon from the squad to play against Auxerre. He said, "Don't you want to ask me who will play tomorrow? I have already told you that Benzema will start. If I were a reporter, I would ask who the other 10 players are. Will Higuain play with Benzema or be on the bench? But no – you only insist on Pedro Leon, it seems as if he is Maradona or Zidane...", before he walked out of the press conference abruptly.
Just 3 days before this outburst, Mourinho came out in the press, attacking Sporting de Gijon for putting out a weaker team against Barcelona. He said in a press conference, "If teams gift their games to Barcelona, it will be harder to win the league. They think that they will not win and therefore play with their reserve squad – this would complicate the league for us." Pep Guardiola, manager of Barcelona refused to be drawn on the matter.
On 7 November 2010, Mourinho was sent to the stand by referee Paradas Romero in a cup match against Murcia. After further questioning the referee's record he was given a two match ban and forced to apologize by the Spanish FA. Mourinho maintained that "it is better that it is me who is sanctioned than an important player".
In a Champions League match at Ajax, late in the match when Real Madrid were leading 4–0, two Real Madrid players received late second yellow cards related to time wasting. The result of this meant they were suspended for the final group match even though Madrid would come first in the group, but would benefit by entering the round of 16 without any accumulated yellow cards. It was suggested that this was a deliberate ploy under Mourinho's instruction via two players in a substitution. As a result, UEFA charged Mourinho along with the four related players with improper conduct.
On 17 August 2011, in the final of the 2011 Supercopa de España, Mourinho was seen gouging the eye of Barcelona's assistant coach Tito Vilanova during a brawl at the end of the game. After the game Mourinho did not comment on the incident except to claim that he did not know who "Pito" Vilanova was, with Pito being Spanish slang for penis.
Personal life
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, when they were teenagers in Setúbal, Portugal, and the couple married in 1989. Their first child, daughter Matilde, was born in 1996 and they had their first son, José Mário, Jr., four years later. Mourinho, whilst dedicated to football, describes his family as the centre of his life and has noted that the "most important thing is my family and being a good father." He was selected as the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
Man of the Year 2005 and was described as a man devoted to both his family and his work. Mourinho has also been a part of social initiatives and charity work, helping with a youth project, bringing Israeli and Palestinian children together through football and donating his "lucky" jacket to Tsunami Relief
Humanitarian response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The humanitarian response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was prompted by one of the worst natural disasters of modern times. On 26 December 2004, the earthquake, which struck off the northwest coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, generated a tsunami that wreaked havoc along much of the...
, earning £22,000 for the charity. José Mourinho is a Catholic.
Widely known for his strong personality, refined dress sense, and quirky comments at press conferences, Mourinho has experienced fame outside of football circles, featuring in European advertisement campaigns for Samsung
Samsung Group
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
, American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
and adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
, amongst others. An unofficial biography of Mourinho, titled O Vencedor – De Setúbal a Stamford Bridge (The Winner – from Setúbal to Stamford Bridge), was a best seller in Portugal. However, Mourinho did not authorise the biography and attempted, unsuccessfully, to prevent the book from being published.
Mourinho was part of an unusual event in May 2007 when he was arrested for preventing animal welfare officials from putting his dog in to quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
. The dog had not been sufficiently inoculated but the situation was resolved after it was returned to Portugal and Mourinho received a police caution.
In 23 March 2009, José Mourinho was awarded a doctorate honoris causa degree by the Technical University of Lisbon
Technical University of Lisbon
The Technical University of Lisbon is a Portuguese public university. It was created in 1930 in Lisbon, as a confederation of older schools, and comprises, nowadays, the faculties and institutes of veterinary medicine; agricultural sciences; economics and business administration; engineering,...
for his accomplishments in football.
Mourinho speaks Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
fluently. He also speaks Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
.
In October 2010, Mourinho was ranked No.9 on the list of Most Influential Men published by AskMen.com
AskMen.com
AskMen.com is a free online men’s web portal, with international versions in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia.-History:...
.
See also
- List of UEFA Cup and Europa League winning managers
- List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winning managers
- José and his Amazing Technicolor OvercoatJosé and his Amazing Technicolor OvercoatJosé and his Amazing Technicolor Overcoat is a comedy sketch first performed for Gift Grub on Ireland's Today FM.-Song:The skit parodies the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as well as Real Madrid manager José Mourinho...
- Special 1 TV
- José Arrogantio, a character based on Mourinho in comedy series Harry and Paul