Mourinho closes Portugal door
Posted By admin on September 20, 2010
Jose Mourinho has made it clear that he will not be taking the Portugal national post on an interim basis.
It had been suggested that the Real Madrid boss could take temporary charge of his homeland for a Euro 2012 double-header against Denmark and Iceland in October.
With the position currently vacant following the dismissal of Carlos Queiroz, Portugal are desperate to appoint a new manager as soon as possible.
They had hoped that Mourinho could be persuaded to fill the void until a new man is put in place but, despite discussing the issue with Portuguese officials, the former Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan coach has ruled himself out of the running.
“Being Portuguese I am always available to talk about the team, but as a coach the issue is closed and I don’t want to talk about it any more,” he said.
“Being Portuguese I always want the national team to be doing well. The coach will always have my support as the coach of three of the players of the national team (Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho and Cristiano Ronaldo).
“If he needs my co-operation and opinion about those three players, I will always be open to that sort of communication.
“As for coaching the national team for two matches, the issue is closed, there is no more to it.”
Passion
Meanwhile, Mourinho has revealed that he plans to emulate his former rival Sir Alex Ferguson by coaching into his 70s.
The Portuguese has been in management since 2000, when he took charge of Benfica, and he insists that the passion for the game burns as brightly inside him now as it did a decade ago.
“These 10 years have passed very quickly,” said Mourinho.
“I have the same passion as 10 years ago and I think that in another 10 years the passion will be the same.
“I think I’ll be like Ferguson. I’ll be 70 years old and still have the passion for coaching.”
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