Real Madrid coach
Jose Mourinho
says that he should be the
front-runner for all the major individual accolades in 2010 for
leading
Inter to
a historic treble last season.
Mourinho inspired the Beneamata to Serie A, Coppa Italia and
Champions League success in the 2009-10 campaign before joining
Madrid as their coach in the summer.
However, having led Spain to their maiden World Cup triumph in
South Africa in the summer, Vicente del Bosque appears to be in
pole position to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or award in the coaches'
category, and this, Mourinho, believes, is unfair.
"Me, I've made my choice. 11 months' work, 57 matches played, three
titles including the most important of all, 'THE' tournament - the
Champions League," Mourinho told la Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I have won everything, I could not do any more than that, equally
so for the players."
The Portuguese further slammed the omission of Inter playmaker
Wesley Sneijder from the final three nominees for the Ballon d'Or
award in the players' category and blasted, "If the winner is
Andres Iniesta, who unhappily was not able to play for the first
five months of the year because of injury, but after that played
six matches and scored a goal in South Africa [the winner in the
World Cup final], then anything can happen in the year of a World
Cup final and the rest counts for nothing."
Mourinho also praised Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who joined
the Rossoneri from Barcelona in the summer.
“I am only sorry that they didn't get to know the real Ibra: the
one at Barca wasn't him and I don't know why," said the
47-year-old.
"But he is a phenomenon. I don't know if you understand: he has won
nine League titles in a row in nine seasons with five
teams."
A typically self-confident Mourinho also turned his
attentions to his previous club, Inter Milan, who won the FIFA Club
World Cup on the weekend having qualified thanks to his Champions
League success with them last season.
"I am very happy and feel very proud for Inter Milan's success
in the FIFA Club World Cup. It was a great pleasure to train them,
just as it is to coach Real Madrid. I thought Rafa Benitez would
thank me for practically winning the title for him, but... Inter
Milan fans would tell you how they really feel about it."
Prior to the Sevilla match, Mourinho grabbed headlines with a
self-appraisal rating his personal performance in 2010 as better
than perfect.
He said: "On a scale of one to ten, I would have to give myself
an 11. 2010 has been the perfect year for me, the best year of my
career. I won every title I played for last season and I have lost
none of my chances to win more titles at Real Madrid this
time."