Jose Mourinho Reveals His Relationship With Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona and Jose Mourinho (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Tottenham coach Jose Mourinho revealed his relationship with Diego Maradona and he missed it when he got a phone call from him. The Portuguese tactician revealed that Maradona was always there to encourage him when his team had just lost.

The world of football is mourning the death of the iconic former player from Argentina who suffered a heart attack on Wednesday, November 25.

World and sports figures paid tribute to the 1986 World Cup champion, including Mourinho who said he missed conversing with Maradona on the phone after a disappointing match.

"There's Maradona and there's Diego. I don't need to talk about Maradona because the world knows and no one will forget," he told BT Sport before his team beat Ludogorets 4-0 in the Europa League on Friday.

"Diego is different, the people who are his best friends, the people he shares the dressing room with, his colleagues, these people have privileges."

"I can say he is a good friend of mine, but my contact with him was by phone and of course we met several times."

"He has a big heart, big, big, big. That's the guy I miss, because we can find his football every time we miss him, if we Google, we will find him. But not Diego."

"I spent the day telling people stories about him and the time we spent together and that's the man I miss."

"I especially miss the phone calls that always come after defeats and never after victories."

"He knows that after the win I don't need a phone call, he knows that in the tough times he's always there and he always says after the defeat: 'Mo, don't forget you're the best.' He always takes this approach."