Sports

LISBON – Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho said that he should be labelled the “Only One” instead of the ‘Special One’, after becoming the only coach to win the top three leagues in European football.

Mourinho has won titles in Spain (once, with Real Madrid), Italy (twice, with Inter Milan) and England (twice, with Chelsea), as well as in his native Portugal (twice, with Porto).

“Like me or not, I am the only one who won the world’s three most important leagues. So, maybe instead of the ‘Special One’, people should start calling me the ‘Only One’,” Mourinho said in an interview with Portuguese television channel SIC.

Mourinho, 49, was nicknamed the ‘Special One’ by the English press after referring to himself as just that, during a news conference following his arrival at Chelsea from Porto in 2004.

In an interview televised on Monday he explained that, as his career has progressed, he has become less selfish and less focused on his individual goals.

“Things have been going well for me, thank God. I am focused on others much more these days. The pleasure of winning with Inter Milan was seeing a club which had not won for 50 years winning again.

“That is what entices me more and more, instead of pursuing individual goals.”

Real Madrid kick off their 2012-13 campaign against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup on August 23.

Agencies