Jose Mourinho has rubbished suggestions that Roberto Martinez was first in line for the Portugal job, saying he was the “only choice” at one stage.
- Santos left after 2022 World Cup
- Job-share speculated on for Roma boss
- Ex-Belgium coach appointed
WHAT HAPPENED? The Euro 2016 winners found themselves in the market for a new coach after severing ties with long-serving Fernandes Santos on the back of a disappointing quarter-final defeat to Morocco at the 2022 World Cup. Mourinho was immediately billed as the ideal candidate to fill a prominent post, with a job-share proposal rumoured for the current Roma boss, but he ultimately shunned interest from his homeland and paved the way for former Belgium coach Martinez to be appointed on a three-and-a-half-year contract.
WHAT THEY SAID: Portuguese Football Federation president Fernando Gomes said at Martinez’s official unveiling: “What interested me from the first hour was defining the profile. We spoke, within this, with many people. The only concrete proposal we made to be a coach, was Roberto Martínez.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mourinho has refuted those claims, telling reporters after seeing Roma through to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia: “Today I can talk to you and say something that maybe you are not very interested in, but I want to thank the president of the Portuguese Federation. What he said made me very proud, saying that I was not the first choice, but his only choice and that he would have done anything to get me home. He made me very happy. But I didn’t go, I’m here and I’m giving my all.”
WHAT NEXT? Mourinho has also been mooted as a potential candidate to take charge of the Brazil national team, following the departure of Tite, but the ex-Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager is tied to a contract at Roma through to 2024.
Source: Goal
