Bernabeu boss reveals he nearly took
the Wembley hot-seat after
Stamford Bridge exit.
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho says he was ‘hours’ away from
accepting the Football Association’s offer to become the England
head coach.
In 2007, Steve McClaren had lost the national job and Mourinho
was searching for new employment after being released from
Chelsea.
FA officials approached the ‘Special One’ to revive
the nations hopes and fortunes after failing to miss out on
qualification for Euro 2008.
But Mourinho, despite being tempted, decided to stay in club
football and The FA went for Fabio Capello instead.
Mourinho was not short of offers in this period and said
he nearly went for Paris St Germain but was put off by a
major European City not having a thriving football team.
“When I left Chelsea, the first month was fantastic,” he told
L’Equipe. “I went to Africa, to Japan, I did tons of things I had
not been able to do.
“The second month was good too, but from the third onwards it
was horrible, just awful.
“I was hours away – I almost signed up for the English national
side.
“But at the last moment I began thinking: ‘I am going to coach a
national side, there will be one match a month and the rest of the
time I will be in my office or supervising matches. And then to
have to wait until the summer to compete in a European Championship
or a World Cup’? No, it wasn’t for me.
“So at the last moment I pulled back preferring to wait for the
right job to come along, a good club, a challenge that could
motivate me. That was Inter.”
