By Banji Ojewale
Jose Mourinho is the unpredictable, irritable yet unforgettable Portuguese soccer coach renowned for a host of feats confounding forecasters. He took clubs to great heights in his in-form days. Few tenderers of his era have matched his history: he has won a domestic title record in four different countries; he is one of only three managers to have lifted the UEFA Champions League twice with two different clubs; he is the first manager to clinch a European hat-trick, after winning the inaugural 2022 Europa Conference League with Roma, having previously secured the Champions League and the Europa version.
What’s the magic,
if there’s any, that earns you prized international accolades in such a gritty
sport? Once, in the newsroom of a popular TV station in Lagos, I listened as an
analyst previewing a Mourinho match, attempted an answer; he sought a
‘’demystification’’ of the ways of the 60-year-old who calls himself the “Special
One’’. He said all you needed to second-guess the Portuguese in a game was to
look closely at his starting selection; it would lead you straight into his
secret.
