Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho 'not close' to Portugal job
Wednesday 6 June 2018 15:48, UK
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has suggested he has no plans to coach Portugal in the immediate future.
Mourinho has previously said that he might look to take charge of his country once he becomes tired of club football.
However, he told GQ Magazine: "I am not close at all. I think being the coach of a club is my job, because I need to play matches every week and train every day.
"I would say I am even further away from being tired now than I was a few years ago."
Portugal will be managed by Fernando Santos this summer as they look for World Cup success.
With Cristiano Ronaldo leading the team, Mourinho said he thinks his country can challenge in Russia.
"Players like [Lionel] Messi and Ronaldo are so good that they can make their teams better than they are on paper. So I think Argentina and Portugal can do well.
"Brazil, because of their manager Tite, can play well tactically and defensively, but they still have that natural Brazilian talent. They will be a team to watch. And of the European teams, Spain looked really strong in qualifying. They have a mix of good experienced players and quality players. But you never know… there can always be a surprise at the World Cup.
"Portugal is the kind of country where new talent is always coming through and in the current national team I think we have even better players than in the squad two years ago. So Portugal can do anything. Can we be world champions? I don't dare say that, but on our day we can beat anyone."
