Mourinho admits Vilanova eye poke was wrong
Reuters - Thursday 09 August 2012, 13:01
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho
has sought to calm the waters before this month's Spanish Super
Cup against bitter rivals Barcelona by admitting for the first
time he was wrong to poke Barca's new coach Tito Vilanova in the
eye.
"I should not have done what I did, obviously not," Mourinho
told Fox Sports during Real's pre-season tour of the United
States.
"The person who messed up there was me," added the
Portuguese, in an interview posted on the broadcaster's website.
During a Super Cup match last season, Mourinho stole up
behind Vilanova, who was assistant to Pep Guardiola at the time,
and jabbed a finger in his eye.
Vilanova responded by shoving Mourinho away and although
both were handed Super Cup bans by the Spanish football federation
(RFEF), federation president Angel Maria Villar exonerated them
last month as part of a general amnesty.
They can take their places on the bench for the first leg of
the traditional season opener at Barca's Nou Camp stadium on
Thursday August 23 and the return game at Real's Bernabeu arena on
Wednesday August 29.
Mourinho, whose Real side ended Barcelona's three-year grip
on the Spanish title last term, said his relationship with
Vilanova had since been repaired.
"I work a lot with my players precisely on this, control the
emotions, only think about playing and work well," he said.
"The key thing is the negative image. As Tito said a few
weeks ago, the footage will be there for ever.
"There are no problems between him and me. The story is over
and what needs to be done now is to make sure nothing similar
happens again."
The Spanish Super Cup pits league champions Real against
King's Cup winners Barca.