Coaching the best players in the world at a young age shaped Mourinho.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has revealed his renowned self-confidence is down to coaching some of the best players in world football during his spell as a coach at Barcelona.
The Portuguese, now 50, spent four years as assistant manager at the Nou Camp until 2000 and coached some of the finest players in world football, including Rivaldo and Ronaldo, whom he calls ‘the real one’.
“I was manager for the first time in 2000 but, before that, I was assistant in big clubs and with big managers and coaching the best players in the world so I was 30 and I was coaching Ronaldo, not this one [Cristiano], the real one, the Brazilian Ronaldo,” the Blues manager told ESPN.
“I was coaching Rivaldo, I was coaching Figo, I was coaching Guardiola, I was coaching big players when I was very, very young.
“So, at that time, I was not the manager, I was just an assistant but I was feeling that I had, in my hands, some potential and after that I start my career in the year 2000 and after four years I won my first UCL and, after that, everything comes as a consequence.”
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