Former Inter manager Jose Mourinho has reminisced about Inter’s famous treble winning season which was completed 10 years ago today with the capture of the Champions League.
“I was at my best in my career when I felt at home, where I could feel the emotions of my group, where I was 200 per cent in it with my heart,” he began an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, which appeared in today’s print edition of the Italian daily newspaper.
“That’s why, on May 22 in Madrid, I was content to experience the happiness of others, all the way from Moratti to the people working in the warehouse.
“I had already won a Champions League. I used to think of myself first and then the others: at Inter, it was never like that.
“In a family, when you become a father, you understand that someone is more important than you and that you move into second place.
“Ten years later, we are all together again. Just the other day I spoke to Alessio. In my time, he was the driver. Where and when does it happen that a coach who leaves, ten years later still talks to the driver? Never. That’s Inter for me, this is my people.”
The Portuguese tactician then went on to recall some times during his tenure in charge where he perhaps went a little too far.
“There are other relationships too: I coach, you play. Empathy depends on the ability to accept me as I am. It’s like a puzzle.
“At Inter, there were people waiting for someone like me to complete that puzzle. I’m never fake, I’m original: it’s me, and that’s that.
“I was also harsh, but it was me. Especially after the defeat in Bergamo. I was very violent with the players, right after having told them that they had won the Scudetto of poor performances.
“I understood that I had hurt them, because only afterwards I understood the things that had happened before, and I apologized.”
Next Mourinho revealed that had he returned to Milan with the rest of the team for the celebrations he may have ended up staying in charge of Inter rather than taking charge of Real Madrid, who he has insisted he never had a deal with before the final.
“If I had returned from Madrid to Milan, with the team around and the fans who would have chanted: ‘Jose stay here with us’, perhaps I would never have left.
“I hadn’t already signed with Real Madrid before the Final. Someone said that Real came to our hotel before the Final, but that’s not true.
“I wanted to go to Real, they wanted me the year before. I went to Moratti’s house to tell him and he stopped me from going. I had already rejected Real when I was at Chelsea and you can’t say no three times to Madrid.
“I had decided to leave after the second semi-final against Barcelona, because I knew I would win the Champions League.
“I had prepared Moratti: without words, the temperature of our embrace on the pitch made him understand what I wanted.
“He said: ‘After this, you have the right to leave’. It was correct to do what I wanted, not to be happy. In fact, I was happier in Milan than in Madrid.”
Mourinho then went on to recall how upset Inter’s rivals were upon them completing the feat that no other Italian club has ever achieved and on Marco Materazzi, who stepped up several times that season.
“Our noisy enemies, who then wept, was beautiful. The tremor was stronger than the noise and if you think about it, it’s the same thing.
“When there’s noise, it’s because there is fear. I got out of the car to embrace Materazzi because he was the symbol of the sadness in all of us, and of what a team player must be.
“When the team needed him – Chelsea, Roma, Siena – he was there. I’m a Catholic and I believe in these things. Maybe it was God who put him there against that wall, as the last player I saw.
“By hugging him, I embraced all my players. And I say one thing: it makes me wonder why someone like him – as a coach, manager, warehouse worker, driver, I don’t know – is not at Inter.”
He concluded by stating: “Why did I stop saying that I will return to Inter one day? I know why you are asking me this question, I’m not stupid.”
The post Jose Mourinho: “Decided To Leave Inter After Semifinal Win Vs Barcelona Because I Knew We’d Win The Champions League” appeared first on Sempreinter.
from Sempreinter https://ift.tt/3bVGdKU
via IFTTT visita: https://ift.tt/1VotyWY
INTER CLUB PAVIA "C'E' SOLO L'INTER" 