Jose Mourinho has
taken another swipe at Cristiano Ronaldo by claiming that that
his fellow Portuguese is not the "real" Ronaldo.
The Chelsea boss, who recently stated that his former charge at
Real Madrid "thinks he knows everything", insinuated that he has
more respect for Brazil legend Ronaldo, with whom he worked
during his time at Barcelona under the guidance of Bobby Robson.
"I was manager for the first time in the 2000 year 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," Mourinho told ESPN.
"I was coaching Rivaldo, I was coaching [Luis] Figo, I was
coaching [Pep] 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 Champions League and, after that,
everything comes as a consequence."
Mourinho left Camp Nou in 2000 to coach Benfica but it was at
rivals Porto that he became a household name on the back of
their remarkable Champions League success in 2004. |