Jose Mourinho has denied swearing at referee Mike Riley in the
players' tunnel at half-time during Chelsea's 3-3 FA Cup
quarter-final draw with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho was asked afterwards if he had used the Portuguese word
'puta' - which translates as whore - when speaking to Riley but
insisted there had been no confrontation.
'I approached the referee at half-time, always in a polite way,'
said the Chelsea boss. 'That's the way I do it, when I do it. But
it worked in another way because the second half was worse than the
first.
'He replied by asking me to let him do his work, that kind of
stuff. I am polite, he was polite. There were no confrontation
problems. If you listen to me speaking, I say the kind of word you
mention 10 times in every 15 words.
'If you have a microphone on the dugout I say that during the game
20 times easy. The word can be abusive if you understand it as an
abusive word.
'I tell the word to my players and myself when I am not happy. It
is something I say when the ball hits the post. I say it 50 times
in a game, 50 times in training and I don't want to be
offensive.
'I can be emotional but I am polite. I never want to be offensive
with somebody. It is the same word I use to criticise the ball when
it goes out.'
Mourinho admitted that there had been controversy in all the
Chelsea matches where Riley has been officiating this season.
'In my opinion he gave too many decisions against us. I don't think
they were big decisions. But every free-kick in midfield was
against Chelsea. I am not saying they had a big influence on the
result, I am not saying that. But too many free-kicks is a big
frustration for the players. It breaks the intensity of the game
and we are not happy. But that's football.
'All season was not an easy one in our matches with Mr Riley.
Against Liverpool Mohamed Sissoko should be sent off, he wasn't.
One minute later Michael Ballack is out and we have to play with 10
men for a lot of the time.
'We go to Reading, we play with 10 men, we lose two goalkeepers and
not even a yellow card and today, there were too many decisions
against us.
'But what can I say? He is a good referee so I hope the next time
we have him, things go back to normal.'
Mourinho brushed aside concerns of John Terry's long-term future at
Stamford Bridge.
Terry was not ready to return to action against Spurs after
suffering a head injury against Arsenal in the Carling Cup final
and there have been reports that talks about a new deal for the
England captain have stalled over the length of his contract
extension and his pay demands.
But Mourinho sees no reason for concern.
He declared: 'John is on a long-term contract. His contract is
until 2009. It is a long-term contract and he is a Chelsea player
until then minimum - so no problem.
'It is better if he has a contract until 2015, better for him and
for Chelsea. But if he has a contract until 2009 and they take one
more month or two or three, until they sign a new one, I don't see
a drama.'
Chelsea have never won the FA Cup under Mourinho and they looked
down and out after a first half which saw Spurs race into a 3-1
interval lead.
Dimitar Berbatov put the visitors in front in the fifth minute
before Frank Lampard levelled 17 minutes later.
But an own goal from Michael Essien in the 28th minute and a third
from Hossam Ghaly eight minutes later put Tottenham in
command.
Lampard reduced the arrears in the 71st minute and substitute
Salomon Kalou capped a remarkable transformation with an equaliser
five minutes from time to earn Chelsea a replay at White Hart Lane
on Monday week.
Mourinho, who jetted off to Valencia after the game, said the
number of goals was good for the crowd but not for him.
He added: 'It was a game with mistakes. My view of football is that
when you have four, five, six goals in a game - it is great but
there is always mistakes.
'We made some defensive mistakes but the game was magnificent. The
spirit was great and I think everybody in the stands enjoyed the
game. We can be happy because at half-time we were two goals down
and out of the competition. But in the second half against a good
team, we had enough desire and belief.
'We survived and I will fight until the last moment to win it. I
think in this moment we are happier than them.
'They had everything in their hands and we had everything
lost.'