Jose Mourinho revealed the private side of Diego Maradona who would “call me after my big defeats, but never my victories” following the Argentina legend’s passing.
Maradona, one of the greatest players of all time, died at the age of 60 on Wednesday and Mourinho, who knew the World Cup winner well, paid tribute to his friend after Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Ludogorets in the Europa League 24 hours after he passed away.
“Maradona the world knows, the world never forgets,” he said. “I made sure that my son knows a lot about him, even being born after he was a player. I know my son will make sure when he is a father he will not let his kids forget.
“It was a bit similar with [Alfredo] Di Stefano; I never saw him play football, but my dad made sure I knew a lot about him. With these generations, we have players of our generations, and in my generation was what everybody knows.”
“Then there’s Diego the guy. That one, I miss. I feel sorry that I didn’t spend more time with him, I would have loved to. I think his family, his friends and colleagues are very privileged to know him well and spend time with him.
“I know him well enough and in my big defeats, he would always call me. In my big victories, never. But I will miss Diego, and I am very sad but I have a smile because with him, every minute I spent with him was to laugh.”