“I never thought he could be a coach… But having a good PR is more important to some than being really capable!”
Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 2:14 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 2:25 p.m.
Jose Mourinho (63 years old), the coach of Benfica, gave an interview to Il Giornale in which he also talked about the first season at Inter of his former pupil from the Nerazzurra team, with whom he won the “Triple” in 2009-2010.
The Portuguese coach returned with statements about what Gazzetta dello Sport dubbed the “Special Two” after his recent speech in which he used a sentence similar to Mourinho's at his introduction as Inter coach (“I'm not a fool”).
The current Benfica coach said last autumn that he wished Chivu success, but not to win all the trophies with Inter, to equal the Lombard club's record, scudetto, Coppa Italia and Champions League in 2009-2010, with Cristi in the team.
Now, Mourinho has come up with unexpected statements about the technician who can become champion on Sunday, should Inter beat Parma “Giuseppe Meazza” in the 35th round of Serie A.
66of matches has Cristi Chivu as coach at Parma and Inter. He recorded 38 wins, 13 draws and 15 losses
Mourinho: “He studied, followed all the steps and learned the trade properly. Chivu was not born a coach by chance”
“I'm happy for Chivu, even though when I coached him I never thought he could be a coach. He was a good, quiet guy, a great player, but he didn't seem destined to be that.
He was smart… He studied, followed all the steps in the junior and youth teams and learned the trade properly. A coach was not born by chance”, Mourinho confessed in the interview given to Il Giornale in Milan, where he came for an action by the insurance company Prima Assicurazioni, whose image he is.
Challenged to compare it with other cases, Jose retorted: “I confirm that many people get into the bank today because they know how to sell themselves well. Having a good PR is more important than being really capable. In short, image is everything.”
Let's face it: this idea that the game plan is more important than the results is the biggest lie in football. The first thing is that to win you have to have a lot of quality and do a lot of things well. And only then comes the aesthetics. A winning product is a winning product
– Jose MourinhoBenfica coach
Gazzetta dello Sport's comparison between Mourinho and Chivu
Chivu was featured by Jose Mourinho in 59 matches at Inter, where he contributed one goal and one assist. Under the command of the Portuguese, Cristi won five trophies: the Champions League, two Scudetti, the Italian Cup and the Super Cup.
