Mourinho's perfect year

By Rui Matos Pereira

It has not been a bad season for UEFA Cup contenders FC Porto. A commanding semi-final first-leg lead over S.S. Lazio aside, they hold a 13-point advantage over second-placed SL Benfica in the Portuguese Super Liga and have also qualified for the Portuguese Cup semi-finals. Life must be pretty good, then, for coach José Mourinho, who at 40 is one of the youngest men to have led a side to this stage of a European club competition.

Preparation time
Mourinho took over at Porto in January 2002, his début coming in the UEFA Champions League against Real Madrid CF. Joining mid-season, there was no time to build his own team. This season, however, has been "quite different", as Mourinho explained to uefa.com. "The main change between last season and this is the time I've had to work with the players," he said. "I had a full pre-season to pick players, get them used to a new tactical scheme, and prepare them for the challenges ahead."

Better than expected
Subsequently, everything has gone to plan - if not better. "I was hoping Porto would reach this stage in good shape, but was not expecting such a lead in the league," he said. "I also wondered if the players would take on board my tactical ideas. Another thing to consider was rotation, as we would be playing in three competitions. We've been able to rest some of our regular players without losing our consistency."

All together now
For Mourinho, a significant factor in Porto's success is the support the team enjoys from the club's hierarchy. "Having administrative stability, a great president and an excellent working relationship between everybody is essential. Then, we have a group of players who can match their technical and tactical strengths with a strong attitude - my players are ambitious, aggressive in the quest for their goals and arrogant in the way they can motivate themselves and take responsibility when it comes to meeting our aims."

Less pressure
Mourinho acknowledged that Porto's massive lead in the Super Liga had allowed them to focus more easily on the UEFA Cup. "It means we are under less pressure," he said. "Maybe if we only had a three or four-point advantage over Benfica we would not be in the UEFA Cup semi-finals, as we would probably have set other priorities."

Defining moment
Challenged by uefa.com to choose the season's key moments, Mourinho said: "In the league, the defining moment was the midway point of the season, when we got two consecutive away wins at Sporting [Clube de Portugal] and [CF Os] Belenenses. We had a seven-point lead and after Benfica drew in Guimaraes, it rose to ten. We then went to the Luz and won again, to consolidate our position."

Standing ovation
As for the UEFA Cup, Mourinho cites the home defeat in the quarter-final first leg against Panathinaikos FC, when his team had "total control but a lack of luck and precision in our finishing". He added: "It was gratifying to see the fans give us a standing ovation after that defeat. That is common in Great Britain, not in Latin countries."

Porto ambition
Mourinho, whose contract runs until 2005, insists his ambition is to "be successful at Porto, rather than go anywhere else". While a "foreign coaching experience" appeals - and he has worked as assistant to Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal at FC Barcelona - he would only be interested "if the time and conditions were right".

Italian test
That is for the future, however. Back to the present and Lazio. The Italians, for Mourinho, are "a team with a very distinctive playing pattern - they play as a whole, but they have a group of world-class players who can always give you problems". He expects a "hard-fought tie", which may even be decided on penalties. A tough prospect then but for Mourinho's side not impossible.