Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has spoken of his pride at being honoured Portugal’s coach of the century.
Mourinho flew out to Lisbon on Wednesday for the ceremony, which was held in Estoril in front of a star-studded audience and organised to mark the Portuguese Football Federation’s 100th anniversary.
The 52-year-old, who made his name in his homeland by winning the Uefa Cup and Champions League with FC Porto, called it a ‘big honour’.
The son of Felix Mourinho, who himself had a 20-year managerial career, he worked as an assistant to Sir Bobby Robson at Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona, before taking charge of Benfica.
Mourinho later turned around the fortunes of Uniao de Leiria but it was as boss of Porto where he began his rise to prominence.
He led them to successive league titles, beat Martin O’Neill’s Celtic in the 2003 Uefa Cup final and followed it the next year with victory over Monaco in the Champions League final.
The silverware saw him succeed Claudio Ranieri at Stamford Bridge, where in his first spell he won back-to-back Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups.
After a shock departure in September 2007, he won the Serie A, with Inter Milan, and La Liga, with Real Madrid, making him the first manager to claim league titles in four of Europe’s top divisions.
And, after guiding Inter to the Champions League, he was named Fifa world coach of the year for 2010.
He left Real in the summer of 2013 to return to Chelsea, with the Blues well placed to challenge for the title once more.
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Actually, no coincidence at all. When you're the best at what you do, the top dogs will always want you. I wonder why people have trouble grasping this. You don't see major CEOs going back to the mailroom at their next job.
Coincidentally, he has always been the manager of the richest club in every country he has been in.