Martin O’Neill was part of the Premier Sports TV pundit team as Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea with Benfica in the Champions League and he couldn’t resist a jibe at his old foe
Time may be a healer, but not for Martin O’Neill when it comes to the UEFA Cup Final in Seville during the 2002/03 season.
Despite two decades passing since that match, he still harbours resentment towards Jose Mourinho and his Porto team, as he made clear with a live on-air quip.
The ex-Celtic manager was part of the Premier Sports TV pundit team as Mourinho, dubbed ‘The Special One’, returned to former club Chelsea in the Champions League with his current team, Benfica, reports the Daily Record.
O’Neill expressed his admiration for the Portuguese manager’s winning record and managerial prowess.
However, he couldn’t resist making a jibe about Mourinho’s Porto team ‘cheating the whole way’ to UEFA Cup victory back in 2002/03.
That memorable journey to the final ended in disappointment for Celtic, with Henrik Larsson’s two spectacular goals not enough to secure victory for the Parkhead side, who lost 3-2 after extra time.
“I think he’s a great manager, a really great manager. He’s very, very clever. He’s just wanting to remind people of how good he was.
“He’s trying to play down as if I’ve settled a little bit. Jose will never settle. Great, great manager, what he did.
“But it doesn’t mean that they didn’t cheat their whole way to the UEFA Cup Final and lie down in heaps and go to Porto every single day”, O’Neill joked on Premier Sports.
When it was suggested in the studio that O’Neill seemed to hold a grudge, he responded: “Listen, every night.”
However, he was quick to commend Mourinho’s accomplishments at Chelsea, stating: “If the world ended tomorrow, he’s one of the greats. Really great manager.
“What he did at Chelsea. This idea that he locked up shop – he knew how to win, and he won.
“I’ve got the utmost admiration for him as a winner. He took Chelsea up there.
“I know he had very great players. Frank Lampard, Drogba, John Terry. It really doesn’t matter.
“You still have to manage these players and get them to win, and win consistently. And that is what he did.”
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