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Friday, September 17, 2010

Mourinho: "This will be our toughest match to date"

Jose Mourinho discussed Saturday's match against Real Socieded as well as Portugal's interest in signing the Madridista coach to manage the national team during Friday's post-training news conference.
"This will be our toughest match to date, and I don't say it because it's our next game, but because I believe they are the toughest opponent that we will have played against so far. Teams that are promoted from Segunda Division have the attitude and morale and confidence soaring through the roof after winning their league last year, which makes playing against them harder than playing against a team that has more Primera Division experience but sits in the middle of the table. These are championship-winning teams with winning attitudes. I have watched their two previous games and I can say that they are very organized and defend well. They are a compact group that waits to counterattack. Their attack can be devastating."

"Real Sociedad have had a full week to prepare, while we haven't had that privilege. It's hard for me to accept the fact that we play on Saturday after having played a Champions League match on Wednesday. That said, we are professionals. There was a lot of wear and tear from the Ajax game and it hasn't been easy to recover in only two days. We respect the decisions made and must be in top form if we are to win."

"The Portuguese Football Federation did not contact Real Madrid. The club was made aware of the situation by me. I owe myself to this club and therefore cannot say 'yes' to the national team. Neither can I easily say 'no' because I am Portuguese and I have strong feelings towards the team. But the fact remains that we will not win only because I am coaching the team. Real Madrid has every right to keep me here and I cannot go against their word."

"I win a lot. People get tired of watching my style of football and wait for me to do badly. But there are also people who admire my work and who like what I do. Many people at the UEFA Coach's Congress expressed that they liked the way I won the Champions League and they considered that I did an excellent job with Inter. I don't work to be compared to others. I do what I do and I am confident that the results obtained are the best argument to defend myself. There are times that I don't like what is being said, and I can imagine that there would be people that think a match wasn't good and that it was too defensive if we took 35 shots on goal and it ended 0-0.

"I live for football and my family. I don't have a social life. Everything I do is based on my work and my results."

"I do not play the game of favorites when it comes to other matchups. If I have time I will watch the Atletico-Barcelona game. I won't if I don't. I play in San Sebastian on Saturday and then against Espanyol on Tuesday. I will be a happy man if I get six points out of them:"

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