Jose Mourinho gave me my debut – what he told me before putting me on made me laugh… but I didn’t even touch the ball
JOSE MOURINHO has always had a reputation for his outlandish comments to the media.
But it seems that he is just the same when talking to his players too.
Candido Costa was handed his Porto debut by Mourinho back when the iconic boss was in charge of the Portuguese giants.
And the now retired winger has recalled being asked to play for the club just a matter of hours after the birth of his first son, Rafael.
The game – against Espanyol – was a European clash which sees players pocket an appearance fee for getting some minutes on the pitch.
And with just two minutes remaining of the clash, Mourinho decided to give Costa a run out.
Speaking to Portugese outlet Record, the 42-year-old said: “When Rafael was born, I attended the birth and had the game with Porto after a few hours – it was a game with Espanyol.
“When there were two minutes left until the end of the game it came down to bringing either me or Paulinho Santos on and Mourinho called on me.”
Costa couldn’t believe it was him who was being chosen to play, but will always remember what Mourinho said to him before he ran on the pitch.
The managerial legend seemed to make reference to the appearance fee that Costa was about to earn and joked that he was bringing him on to help with his new born.
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He explained: “Mourinho grabs me by the neck, extends his hand as if he was telling me something about the game, points with his finger and says: ‘It’s for the kid’s milk, you deserve it, you’re a good person’.
“I went in, went where he sent me, I didn’t even touch the ball and it was over. I received the game prize money in full. It didn’t make me richer, but I knew that it was there.”
Costa couldn’t help but laugh at the comment when discussing it in an interview.
Mourinho is well-known for his cheeky claims and mid-game antics.
The former Manchester United and Chelsea boss labelled himself as both “the Special One” and “the Chosen One” in the past.
And since taking charge of Roma has seen more touchline dismissals than any other boss in the Italian league.
