Mourinho closes door on Portugal coaching job

Jose Mourinho has closed the door on any possibility that he will take temporary charge of the Portuguese national team for two Euro 2012 qualifiers next month, saying the “issue is closed”.

“Being Portuguese I am always available to talk about the team, (but) as a coach the issue is closed and I don’t want to talk about it any more,” he told a news conference on Monday.

Coach-less Portugal have made a poor start to their Euro 2012 qualifying bid, drawing 4-4 with Cyprus and losing 1-0 to Norway.

Portugal had asked if Mourinho could take the reins for the next two qualifiers, following the dismissal of previous coach Carlos Queiroz, only for his club Real Madrid to block the move.

Spanish sports daily Marca reported at the weekend that former Sporting Lisbon coach Paulo Bento is set to sign a two-year contract with the Portuguese Football Federation.

“If it is Paulo Bento, that is good. If it is someone else, that is good as well. As for coaching the national team for two matches, the issue is closed, there is no more to it,” said Mourinho.

“Being Portuguese I always want the national team to be doing well. The coach will always have my support as the coach of three of the players of the national team (Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho and Cristiano Ronaldo).

“If he needs my co-operation and opinion about those three players, I will always be open to that sort of communication.”

Portugal face Denmark and Iceland in October.