Still special and parking buses, Mourinho returned – 05/30/2023 – Sport

José Mourinho, 60, has an ability to irritate that has spread even among politicians in Portugal. At a time when the term “viralize” did not even exist, a video in which the former Prime Minister of the country Pedro Santana Lopes (2004-2005) gave an interview in the studio of the SIC channel spread over the internet in 2007.

When he was interrupted by the presenter to show the coach’s landing on his return to his home country, Lopes was not happy.

“José Mourinho is more important than any of us, and his arrival makes the country delirious”, he reacted, with irony. “The problems of parties and politicians are of no interest. I just ask if this is how the country is moving forward. I come here and am interrupted because of the arrival of a football coach. I think the country is crazy.”

Mourinho had just been sacked by Chelsea. Sixteen years later, he continues to irritate.

“We don’t deserve to be eliminated by a team that has no interest in football. I don’t believe their nerve to play the way they played today,” complained German midfielder Nadiem Amiri of Bayer Leverkusen.

The coach made his Roma go to Germany and leave there with a qualification for the Europa League final. This Wednesday (31), they face Sevilla in Budapest — the game, at 4 pm, will be shown on ESPN and TV Cultura.

In the semifinals, after a 1-0 victory in Italy, the Romans drew 0-0 at their rival’s home. Bayer had 72% possession and had 23 shots on target. Roma only kicked once. In the final minutes, the visiting athletes dug fouls and stayed on the ground for long periods to waste time.

In José Mourinho’s lexicon, this is “park the bus”, an expression he coined in 2010, when his Internazionale eliminated Barcelona in the Champions League.

With a talent for provoking and annoying, he made historic rivals in Arséne Wenger, former Arsenal coach, and Pep Guardiola (Barcelona), who in his Barcelona days ironically called him “puto amo” (someone who is superior or the best in that makes).

After securing a spot in the continental final for Roma, he didn’t miss the chance to pin the Catalan foe.

“The only teams that don’t suffer are those that have players on the bench that cost 70 million euros. Last Wednesday, at Manchester City [atual clube de Guardiola], in the second half, players like Foden, Álvarez and Mahrez entered. We lost four or five players and struggled to win. We invested 7 million euros and we are in the final. It’s extraordinary,” he said.

He saved the best comparison to end the interview.

“It’s like Jesus Christ coming to Rome and walking around the Vatican.”

The “park the bus” of 2010 came before Mourinho’s last Champions League title. In 2004, he had already put his name on the shelf of the main coaches in the market when he won the main club tournament on the planet with Porto. Months later, upon arriving at Chelsea, he created the expression that became his bet: José Mourinho, “the special one”.

In fact, he said it was “the special one”, not “the special one”, but the last option is the most charming and ended up prevailing.

Three times champion of England (all with Chelsea), Spanish champion (with Real Madrid), twice winner of the Portuguese league (with Porto) and two times Italian champion (with Inter), Mourinho spent a period in low, to the delight of his detractors. Those were years when he extended the ability to annoy his own players. He created relationship problems at Chelsea (where he returned in 2013), Manchester United and Tottenham.

Even before that, at Real Madrid, he showed his talent for winning titles, putting together winning teams and clashing.

“If I have to fight, I fight. I have no problems with that”, he defined.

By sticking his finger in the eye of Tito Vilanova, then Guardiola’s assistant, in a Real x Barcelona derby, he took it to the last consequences.

Roma seemed to be yet another sign of the decline of his career. He had agreed to go to a medium strength in Europe, without continental titles, which had not won anything since 2008. With a limited budget, Mourinho led the team to victory in the Conference League, a competition created by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) last year .

Now he is in the Europa League final with the possibility of a trophy and qualification for the next Champions League. Such a rebirth that made him enter the list of coaches in the sights of the wealthy Paris Saint-Germain.

The news about the professional death of José Mourinho seems to have been exaggerated.

It will be the Portuguese’s sixth European final. He won the other five.

When qualifying Roma, he cried on the lawn in Leverkusen. He cared little for the criticism of the style of play that would follow.

In images captured by the documentary “All or Nothing” (all or nothing, in English), about the backstage of Tottenham, Mourinho scolds his players because the team played well, almost flawlessly, but lost for just one reason: refusal in committing faults. They had to be more scathing, “disgusting”, before summarizing:

“Football is what it is”.