Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho is a Portuguese and so is superstar Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo. See thosRonaldo and Argentine Real Madrid player Lionel Messi have been engaged in a tacit ba
ttle of supremacy as to who is a better player.
One would expect Mourinho to tilt towards his country man, whom he had at past showered with superlative encomiums. But the self-styled ‘Special One’ has claimed the three best footballers of all time are Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Pele. When asked to pick his best three he said: “For me the top three players in history are Messi, Pele and Maradona.”
For sure that will not make his compatriot happy. But for Mourinho he does care a hoot.
The controversial figure clearly omitted his fellow country-man Cristiano Ronaldo who in 2013 claimed that he was the best thing that happened to football. “He [Ronaldo] is the best. The best in the world, yes. Probably the best ever. “I saw Maradona a couple of times. I never saw Pele. But Cristiano is amazing. This man is the best,” Mourinho said in 2013.
Recall that the tactician and CR7 have a history for throwing tantrums at each other in the past especially when the Portuguese born gaffer left Real Madrid for Chelsea in 2013. Cristiano Ronaldo has been highly tipped to win the 2016 Ballon d’Or having won the just concluded 2016 European Championship in France with the Portuguese team. Mourinho showed patriotism when he took to his twitter handle to celebrate Portugal’s victory over France despite experiencing a robbery attempt by a burglar on that same day.
