Defiant Mourinho deaf to whistling Real fans
Reuters - Monday 23 January 2012, 00:20
Jose Mourinho refused to
answer questions about a reported rift in the Real Madrid
dressing room and said he was not affected by whistling directed
at him by some Real fans during Sunday's 4-1 home win against
Athletic Bilbao.
Real have endured a difficult few days after they lost
Wednesday's King's Cup quarter-final first leg 2-1 at home to
arch rivals Barcelona and Mourinho's Portuguese compatriot Pepe
was accused of deliberately stamping on Lionel Messi's hand.
Pepe said it was accidental but was widely condemned in
local media, including the normally supportive Madrid-based
sports papers.
Marca, the biggest-selling daily, reported on Sunday that
Mourinho had rowed with Spain defender Sergio Ramos during
Friday's training session and said there was a rift between
Mourinho and some of the Spanish internationals in the squad.
At his post-match news conference, Mourinho batted away
questions about the unsourced Marca report, twice interrupting
journalists to insist that he did not read the paper.
Quizzed about Real fans whistling him during Sunday's game,
the former Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan coach said it was the
first time it had happened to him in his career but that it was
"not a problem."
"There is a first time for almost everything and it has
happened to me. It doesn't matter," Mourinho said.
Home fans had also whistled former Real players like
France's Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo of Brazil, as well as
current forward Cristiano Ronaldo, another Portuguese, he added.
"If they whistle me at a club where they don't whistle
anyone, for example like Chelsea, it would be difficult to
accept," he said.
"But at a stadium where they whistle the world's greatest,
who am I not to be whistled at? It's no problem.
"Zidane responded with his football, as Ronaldo did,
Cristiano continues to do so.
"I will continue working and maybe one day I can respond and
maybe one day they will be sad."
FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL
Real President Florentino Perez hired Mourinho from Inter at
the end of the 2009/10 season to try to end Barca's Spanish and
European dominance and the Portuguese said he had an excellent
relationship with the club's board of directors.
"I am a football professional who tries to defend the
colours of Real Madrid with dignity and to the best of my
ability," he said.
"I haven't asked anyone for the right to coach Real Madrid,
it was Real Madrid that asked me to coach them. I am calm and I
do my work and do the best I can."
Emilio Butragueno, a former Real striker who is now director
of institutional relations, said the club would not have been
able to open a five-point lead over Barca in La Liga and win all
six of their Champions League group games if there were problems
in the dressing room.
"It would be impossible to put together this campaign if
there was any fracture," he told Spanish television.
"If you look at the La Liga table, there is no doubt about
the unity," he added.