Mourinho: I want to finish my career managing Portugal

Mourinho - who on Thursday morning was unveiled as Yahoo's Global Football Ambassador for 2014, meaning he will provide exclusive analysis for the World Cup in Brazil – is one of the most successful managers in the history of club football.

But he plans to wind down the final years of his career by moving to the international arena.

“It’s not during my career, it’s to end my career,” Mourinho said of his plans to go into international management. “During my career I don’t want [to], I don’t have qualities to be a national team manager because a national team manager must adapt to the fact that he plays once a month and he trains twice a month and I don’t have that, I don’t adapt to that. So the job is not for me.

“The job is for me when I want to finish my career; the job is for me when I realise that I need a little rest but at this moment I want to train, I want to play. I want to play many competitions at the same time; I want to play at least three days; I want Champions League; I want the championship; I want everything. It is not a job for me to be two years waiting for a World Cup or for a European Cup, I can’t do that now.”

As for coaching his beloved Portugal, Mourinho is ready to give something back to his home country, irrespective of the fact he cannot control the quality of the players available to him.

“Obviously it depends on the generation,” Mourinho said. “Maybe I get the Portuguese team in a generation that we can’t do big things because generations, the talents depends, but really I don’t care, I don’t care. I was not a player, I never did directly something for my country, I did it just at the club level. I want to try to give what I have to my national team.”

Mourinho has been linked with the England national job in the past but says nothing would compare with managing Portugal.

He added: “If I coach a team like England I would be very, very much connected with deep feelings too but Portugal is my country and if I can do for my country and my people, it will be something special.”

- - -