Jose Mourinho has been left fuming with Lucho Gonzalez after the Porto coach branded him a ‘traitor 50 times’ during his side’s draw with Benfica.
Mourinho, who has previously coached Porto, is now manager of Benfica in his native Portugal and oversaw his side’s 2-2 draw with his old club on Sunday evening.
But the game was overshadowed by Mourinho’s red card in the second half, after he was adjudged to have kicked a ball towards the away bench.
He was also accused of being a traitor by Gonzalez, and wanted to put the record straight after the game.
‘Regarding the sending off, the FC Porto bench person who was also sent off called me a traitor 50 times in the tunnel,’ Mourinho said in his post-match press conference. ‘I’d like him to explain: traitor to what?
‘I was at FC Porto, I gave my soul to FC Porto. I went to Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, Fenerbahce, I turned things around. I gave my all to the world, my soul, my life every day. That’s what professionalism is all about. Insults from fans are one thing. And that’s football. These are the same fans who, years ago, I couldn’t walk in the city with, who knelt at my feet. Now they insult me. No problem. But a fellow professional calling me a traitor? A traitor to what? To giving everything to Benfica?
‘If tomorrow I leave Benfica and go elsewhere, I’ll do the same. A traitor to what? I didn’t like it. I was wrongly sent off. The fourth official did a terrible job throughout the game and continues to do so when I told the referee that.
Adding to that, Mourinho insisted Gonzalez, who featured for the likes of Porto, Marseille and Argentina during his playing career, repeated the insult a number of times.
‘It wasn’t just once, it was 20 or 30 times,’ the 63-year-old continued. ‘When he went to Marseille, was he a traitor? A traitor to what? He could have insulted me in a way that I would have accepted better, but I think it was an attack on my professionalism, which is something I value so much.
‘Wherever we are, we go all out. I was a little disappointed in the sense that he’s a professional like me, he’s played for different teams. I didn’t understand the traitor thing.’
Mourinho was also keen to argue his innocence in terms of the red card. He is no stranger to a straight red, and Sunday was the latest to add to his collection.
‘Regarding the sending off, two things,’ he continued. ‘The referee says he sent me off because I kicked a ball towards the FC Porto bench, which is completely false.
‘I don’t know if it was three, four or five times, but I’ve done it many times at the Luz stadium – after we scored, the ball went into the stands. A way to celebrate and give the ball to the lucky fan. I know I’m not very good technically, but it was meant for the stands.’
