World Cup is an emotional pull for Mourinho

JOSE MOURINHO chose his 20th anniversary in football management to reiterate his desire to manage a national team at a World Cup.

And although ears will have pricked up when he hinted he would rather it were not Portugal, the Tottenham boss, 57, said the lucky country would have another two decades to wait. “Yes I want to do a national team,” said Mourinho. “Not yet. I want to do so by the end of my career, I want to have that experience of doing a World Cup and Euros, the emotion of that short competition. Is Portugal an option? On one side, yes, because it’s my heart. But it’s more difficult when you coach the country you love and where you’re born.

“In fact, today I celebrate the 20th anniversary of my career – it was 20 years ago that I played my first match [ Benfica lost 1- 0 at Boavista]. But for sure I’d do a national team in 20 years. I still have 20 more years to coach clubs.”