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NEWSMAKER: Jose MourinhoChelsea's saviour
CBC Sports Online | May 5, 2005
Manager Jose Mourinho guided Chelsea to
its first English soccer league title in 2005. (AP Photo/Lefteris
Pitarakis) |
Half a century of frustration came to end
for English soccer club Chelsea this past weekend, thanks in large
part to Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho.
With three games left in the season, Chelsea posted a 2-0 road victory
over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday as the London-based team clinched
its first English Premier League title since 1955.
Under Mourinho's stewardship, Chelsea, known as the Blues, established
itself as one of Europe's most dominant teams this season.
Playing an exciting, attacking brand of soccer and boasting a roster
of galactic superstars, the Blues wrapped up the English league title
in style by winning 27 of their 35 league games, out-scoring opponents
67-13 and only suffering a single loss.
The Blues' championship victory is even more impressive when you consider
it ends a string of nine consecutive English titles won by either
Manchester United or Arsenal. Since the Premier League seceded from
the old English first division in 1992, only two other teams have
won the league title: Chelsea, and Blackburn Rovers in 1995.
"Nobody speaking with fairness and sense can say we don't deserve
this title," Mourinho told reporters after the Bolton game. "But
the players deserve this more than anybody, and I'm very happy for
the fans."
Of course, success is nothing new to the 42-year-old Mourinho.
Following coaching stints with Benfica and Uniao Leiria, Mourinho
joined Portuguese league heavyweights FC Porto midway through the
2001-02 campaign. In his first full season at the club in 2002-03,
he guided the team to a unique treble of trophies: the UEFA Cup, the
Portuguese league title and the Portuguese Cup.
Mourinho led Porto to a second consecutive league title a year later,
and although they didn't win the Portuguese Cup, the club more than
made up for it by defeating French team AS Monaco in the finals of
the Champions League.
Leading Porto to victory in European soccer's most prestigious club
tournament wasn't enough to keep Mourinho in his native Portugal,
however.
Driven by ambition and wanting to test his coaching skills in the
English Premiership -- regarded as one of the elite soccer leagues
in the world -- he left modest Porto and became the highest-paid manager
in the game by signing a three-year, $11.9 million Cdn deal with Chelsea.
Wanting to end its 50-year title drought, it was the English club
that approached Mourinho and negotiated the contract with him in the
days leading up to Porto's Champions League victory.
The arrival of the Portuguese manager ushered in a new era in the
English Premiership, as Chelsea -- backed by Russian billionaire Roman
Abramovich -- upset the Arsenal-Manchester United duopoly. The Blues
took the league by storm, easily brushing aside each team they faced
and racking up victory after victory.
Noted for speaking plainly and for his self-assuredness (some would
argue arrogance), Mourinho became one of English soccer's colourful
rogues by constantly engaging in a war of words with veteran Premiership
managers Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) and Arsene Wenger (Arsenal).
He also wasn't shy about lambasting the English Football Association,
league officials and referees.
UEFA, European soccer's governing body, handed Mourinho a two-match
sideline ban after the manager accused Swedish referee Anders Frisk
of colluding with Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard during halftime of
Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final.
Chelsea claimed its first piece of silverware of the season when it
defeated Liverpool in the Carling Cup final back in February, but
lost to the same English club this past Tuesday in the semifinals
of the Champions League.
Still, Chelsea gave him a three-year contract extension one day after
the heartbreaking loss to Liverpool.
"Both the club and Jose share a long-term vision for the future,
that was clear from the moment we first met," read a statement
from Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon. "We talked then about
a 10-year plan for Chelsea and Jose wanted to be an integral part
of building that. The outstanding success of the team this season
is a great platform for that building process."
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Born:
January 26, 1963 in Setubal, Portugal..
Managing career:
Benfica, Uniao Leiria and FC Porto of the Portuguese league; Chelsea of the English
Premiership.
Honours won:
2002-03: UEFA Cup, Portuguese League, Portuguese League Cup,
Portuguese Super Cup (with FC Porto); 2003-04: UEFA Champions
League, Portuguese League (with FC Porto); 2004-05: Carling Cup,
English Premiership (with Chelsea)..
The Translator:
After working as a fitness trainer and an assistant coach at several Portuguese
clubs, Mourinho took a job as a translator for English coach Bobby Robson at Sporting
Lisbon in 1992. Mourinho also served as Robson's translator when the Englishman
took over as coach at FC Porto in 1994.
He said it:
"We have top players and, sorry if I'm arrogant, we have a top manager."
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