I could be managing England, says Mourinho

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has revealed he turned down an opportunity to coach England’s national team.

The Portuguese tactician said he was interested in the job and could have signed up for the role, but he decided that a stay in club management would better suit his persona.”I was hours away – I almost signed up for the English national side,” Mourinho told French sports daily L’Equipe, also going on to claim he could have moved to Paris Saint-Germain. “But at the last moment I began thinking, ‘I am going to coach a national side, there will be one match a month and the rest of the time I will be in my office or supervising matches. And then to have to wait until the summer to compete in a European Championship or a World Cup?’. No, it wasn’t for me.””So at the last moment I pulled back, preferring to wait for the right job to come along, a good club, a challenge that could motivate me. That was Inter.”Mourinho left his post at English Premier League club Chelsea in September 2007 – just two months before then-England manager Steve McClaren was sacked.While the 48-year-old passed up the opportunity to lead England – a nation which he has publicly expressed a desire to return to at club level since leaving the Blues – Mourinho said the chance to move to the Serie A with Inter Milan had been a welcome one.”When I left Chelsea, the first month was fantastic. I went to Africa, to Japan, I did tons of things I had not been able to do,” he said.”The second month was also good, but from the third onwards it was horrible, just awful.”Mourinho signed with Inter in June 2008 and won the Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League titles before switching to the La Liga powerhouse for the 2010/11 season.