Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho knows what it takes to be the best. He reached the pinnacle of his profession in 2010, when he was named the FIFA World Coach of the Year, and has a clean sweep of the biggest club trophies in world football. FIFA.com spoke to the Portuguese maestro on a range of topics, including the upcoming The Best FIFA Football Awards™, his country’s miraculous achievements as a seeming underdog, and his take on the potential expansion of the FIFA World Cup™.
The Best FIFA Football Awards are taking place on Monday 9 January in Zurich. What criteria do you use to evaluate the qualities of a player?
Honestly, I’m not too big a fan of individual awards. Football is a team sport. Teams win matches, and players are not as important as teams. Media and fans love it, managers not so much because there is some contradiction between what we work for and the individual award. However, media and fans are very important in the game, so I am not against the individual awards. There are of course special players, with such talent that they can make teams and fellow players better. These kind of players can influence a style of play or a team dynamic. For me, these are the special players. I just feel that, with the awards, the focus is exaggerated somewhat... one week after the ceremony, the campaign for next year has already begun.
In 2010, you were named FIFA World Coach of the Year. What did it mean to you to reach the pinnacle of your profession?
It was such an honour, especially because it will stay in history as the first FIFA award for a coach. However, again I must repeat that I’m a team man and 2010 wasn’t, for me, the year of my FIFA award. It was the year of my treble with Internazionale. It wasn’t Mourinho’s season, it was Inter’s and the Interisti’s season. That’s the way I feel about my job.
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