Former Real Madrid and Barcelona legend Luis Figo believes Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho will make Portugal happy if he heads the national team one day.
“I can’t say what will happen in the future but I think he is one person who will have the chance to be the national coach. If that happens all of Portugal will be happy because he’s a fantastic manager,” said Figo, who was in the city as a part of Premier Futsal.
Figo, who mentored a young Cristiano Ronaldo, is not surprised by his protégé’s evolution as one of the best footballers of all time.
“It’s an evolution of your skills coupled with maturity. He has more experience now. Physically, he has improved a lot. All of that makes you achieve a higher goal in your career. He has the desire to get better and improve in all aspects,” said Figo, who is the second-most capped Portuguese footballer after Ronaldo.
“A football player who doesn’t have passion cannot achieve things. He has to have the passion to win, the passion to train, the passion to improve, the passion of the game and that is how you’re different,” he added.
He also praised his former compatriot Ricardo Carvalho, who was one of the key members of the Portugal side that went down to Greece in the EURO 2004 final. Figo, however, denied making any comparisons between the 2004 team and the 2016 side that won the championship.
“Ricardo is a very nice person and he deserved to win. I think this moment [the 2016 triumph] was destined to happen. I don’t think it is fair to compare two generations. I am proud of what our generation did for Portugal. It’s a set of different players, different moments, so there is nothing to compare,” he said.
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