Mourinho ‘honoured’, but says no to Syria
Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has rejected an offer to coach Syria, according to his agent. In an e-mail sent to Associated Press, Jorge Mendes said Mourinho told the Syrian FA that, “while he felt honoured to receive the invitation, he cannot at the moment accept it”. The Portuguese, 53, was sacked for a second time by Chelsea in December. Mourinho, who has also managed Porto, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, has been linked with Manchester United. It was reported last week that Mourinho, who has never coached a national team, had started househunting in Cheshire after his representatives held talks with United. Syria are 123rd in the Fifa rankings and are the rank outsiders of the 12 countries in Asia still competing for two automatic places at the 2018 World Cup and a playoff spot. Syria have played their home games in the Gulf state of Oman since the country was plunged into civil war five years ago.