The closest Mourinho and Ronaldo came to being crowned champions of
Europe together was in 2011-12 when they took Bayern Munich to penalties
after extra-time in the semi-final second leg, but failed efforts from
Ronaldo, Kaka and Sergio Ramos saw them eliminated.
Mourinho left Madrid for Chelsea last summer, where he is gearing up
for Wednesday's Champions League group-stage opener versus Schalke, but
he has not forgotten how his regular penalty taker missed at the most
crucial of stages.
"Winning the Champions twice as coach has made my career a special one," the former Porto boss told TVI24.
"I've been in several semi-finals too and some defeats were
especially hard to take, such as the goal that did not exist against
Liverpool [during his first Chelsea spell] in 2005 or on penalties in
2012 when our first-choice penalty taker [Ronaldo] went up first and
failed."
Mourinho also dismissed suggestions that he could take over as
Portugal boss following Paulo Bento's departure earlier this month,
which he admits struck him as bizarre timing.
"They have not asked me if I want the job, but I would not accept," the 51-year-old added.
"I'm surprised with the situation though. It is not unheard of for a
coach to be fired or to depart after one or two games, sometimes even in
pre-season if it does not feel right. If there's not a connection there
or if chances of success are minimal.
"But that's not the case here. If at the end of the World Cup, Bento
had decided to leave or the Portuguese football association had chosen
to get someone new, that would be normal. But at this point it is
strange."
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