Jose considered England

Mourinho tempted by Three Lions

Last updated: 7th October 2008

Jose considered England

Mourinho: Now with Inter

In a certain moment I considered being England national manager.

Jose Mourinho
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Jose Mourinho has admitted that he was tempted to take charge of England.

The former Chelsea boss was strongly linked with the job after Steve McClaren departed after The Three Lions failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

But Mourinho admits that despite considering the opportunity, he could not contemplate taking a job without day-to-day interaction and he has since accepted the Inter Milan job.

"In a certain moment I considered being England national manager," said Mourinho.

"First of all because I was in love with the football country and with England - I was also happy there - and secondly because if you have one country where the prestige of the national team manager is huge, it is England.

"But at the same time my passion for the day-by-day work, my passion to train every day, my desire to play every week and if possible more than one game a week, this is my life.

"That's the life I want to have."

Portugal rejection

Speaking to Ford's Feelfootball.com website, Mourinho admitted he also rejected Portugal for the same reasons he shunned England.

"I always had in my career project the Portuguese national team job as one of the last moments of my career but they tried to press me to do it early," he added.

"Sometimes you have to jump out of this road you built - but they understand that I cannot do it now.

"But I want to have the experience of coaching my country one day. I would like to make my family very proud, and I'm sure one day they will be very proud when I become Portuguese national manager.

"I [prefer] club [over country] because at this moment I'm a club manager and it's the kind of job I enjoy.

"The national team job is not the kind of job that motivates me - it's a completely different profile."