Africa-Press – Tanzania. It is early 2010 in northern Italy.
The Champions League knockout stage is under way and Inter Milan are preparing to travel to Stamford Bridge with a one-goal first-leg lead, following a 2-1 triumph in the San Siro a few weeks earlier.
Inter manager Jose Mourinho should be worrying about how to protect that slender lead against his former employers.
Having won the Champions League in 2004 with Porto, his career in Europe since then has been one of near misses and might-have-beens, most notably with the 2005 ghost goal semi-final defeat against Liverpool while managing Chelsea.
Mourinho is indeed knee-deep in one of his meticulous, manipulative, man-management moments that he hopes will become a masterclass, but could just as easily backfire spectacularly.
The pre-match news conference surely? An incendiary remark about the opposition? Or an outlandish dig at the referee appointed for the big match?
No. In fact it’s a more inward-looking, insular moment that the man himself reveals in an in-depth exclusive interview for the BBC Sport documentary How to Win the Champions League: Jose Mourinho.
Inter forward Samuel Eto’o was desperate to be a part of the last-16 second-leg tie at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho was equally keen on Eto’o’s involvement – he’d been a key lieutenant in their run to the knockout stage having signed from Barcelona the summer before. But, Mourinho believed he could glean an extra few percent out of the Cameroonian if he told him the completely opposite.
Less ghost goal, more ghosting.
“Psychology is part of the job and is part of the game with the players,” said Mourinho.
“The way you deal with the press is not going to win matches. Not at all.
“But, with the players? Yes. And, you know, I had I think, hundreds of players [during my career].
“I always looked at each one of them as a different guy than the other guys. Every person is one individual.
“I give you an example of a very strong-minded guy, Samuel Eto’o. The week before that match at Stamford Bridge, I fought him every day. Big, big discussions, big level of pressure.
“I told him: ‘I’m not going to play you. You are not in your best level. You are not going to play’.
“He said: ‘Please Mr, let me play’.
“I said: ‘No, there is no ‘please Mr’ – you are not going to play. You are not performing. I don’t trust you’.
“It was one week of an emotional work with him.”
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