Jose Mourinho did not want to dwell on his anniversary as a trainer prior to the league match between AS Roma and Sassuolo (2-1), but afterwards he admits that he was indeed nervous. The coach led a professional football match for the thousandth time. Mourinho was terrified that his thousandth game would forever haunt his mind as a deception.
In stoppage time, substitute Stephan El Shaarawy hit from the edge of the box. Mourinho couldn’t believe his luck after the win and sprinted across the field to celebrate the late goal. “I lied to everyone!” the Portuguese confesses afterwards in conversation with DAZN. “I had been telling the team for days that this thousandth game was not important to me… But I was incredibly afraid of losing! I didn’t want that memory to haunt me. I lied to everyone about it. The feeling was fantastic, because the game could have ended 6-6 or Sassuolo could have won.”
José Mourinho celebrating after a 92nd minute winner from El Shaarawy… on his 1000th game as professional manager. ??????? #Mourinho1??0??0??0?? games 6??3??9????wins 2??5???? trophiespic.twitter.com/ZQFTUKosEJ
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 12, 2021
Mourinho thanks goalkeeper Rui Patrício for the ‘incredible saves’ he made and points out that Roma also missed several good opportunities themselves. “For the neutral spectator it was an extremely fun game. Tonight I didn’t feel 58 years old, but 12 years old, like a kid who still dreams of a career in football. It was the sprint of a child.” Mourinho says he has apologized to fellow Sassuolo coach Alessio Dionisi. “And I congratulated Sassuolo for playing a fantastic game. We won, but we couldn’t argue with them if they had won, because they played a fantastic game too.”
“I am happy with the three points and with our mentality, but we also have to think about Dionisi,” said Mourinho. “I know all too well the feeling he has now, after these thousand games. They have a very good coach and team, with their own identity. I started studying Sassuolo this week and immediately noticed that it was a is a good team. These are three important points for us. Maybe someone from above decided that I didn’t deserve to have a bad memory of this game.” Roma have won the first three Serie A matches and are therefore in the lead along with AC Milan and Napoli.