The story of José and Abel

Duck Soup

There are a lot of stories in football of greed and selfishness. This one caught the eye, precisely because it shows that sometimes - even in football - people can show kindness and generosity of spirit.

It involves a Mexican-American from Los Angeles with a dream, Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid, Manchester United and Maradona. I won't tell any more of the story, but just invite you read it. If you're a football fan, you'll know exactly how much it all meant to Abel.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130410/real-madrid-fan-jose-mourinho/

smileyj1987

Epic Story !

taytothief

Marcelo's part in that story doesn't surprise me at all sadly.

dundalkfc10

taytothief wrote: »

Marcelo's part in that story doesn't surprise me at all sadly.

What do you mean?

SM01

taytothief wrote: »

Marcelo's part in that story doesn't surprise me at all sadly.

It could've just been Marcelo chatting to him and then asking the guy to do him a favour to get him involved - it's no big deal. I wouldn't go making any judgements on a person based on that.

Guy:Incognito

Whole thing is ruined by calling boots cleats. :-)

Captain Havoc

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Whole thing is ruined by calling boots cleats. :-)

I thought cleats were studs?

Xavi6

Class, and another reason to love Mourinho.

kryogen

Doesnt make particularly good reading for the Jose is a classless **** brigade

Always nice to read stories like that

Liam O

Was expecting to read after it that they gave him a job and moved his family over or something, not sure it's a happy ending when he has to go back and wax floors after all that. Good story though.

steirishrover

That's great...

Mourinho is a class act.. For such pressures of managing R.Madrid to notice even the little guys is brill

Eathrin

Mourinho always seems very friendly with Manchester Utd. I doubt the time will ever be right for him to claim the job though.

taytothief

SM01 wrote: »

It could've just been Marcelo chatting to him and then asking the guy to do him a favour to get him involved - it's no big deal. I wouldn't go making any judgements on a person based on that.

Meh, I reckon he just used the guy to do something for him. I'm probably just jumping to conclusions based on my impression of him though, so you may well be right.

Al Capwned

That's a great story. Mourinho just keeps impressing me.
Wanted to kill him after porto's goal in ot years back, but he has got my respect now.
Seems like a genuinely decent guy.

The_Kew_Tour

Love him or hate him football would be worse without Jose

brinty

Duck Soup wrote: »

There are a lot of stories in football of greed and selfishness. This one caught the eye, precisely because it shows that sometimes - even in football - people can show kindness and generosity of spirit.

It involves a Mexican-American from Los Angeles with a dream, Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid, Manchester United and Maradona. I won't tell any more of the story, but just invite you read it. If you're a football fan, you'll know exactly how much it all meant to Abel.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130410/real-madrid-fan-jose-mourinho/

What a wonderful story. I'm delighted to see that Abel's dreams came true.
Mourinho behind the public persona is a true gentleman.

Essien

As if we needed any more reasons to love Jose, what a legend.

LuckyLloyd

Mourinho is the greatest.

Dempsey

Thats a great story, he's a very lucky guy considering the chance on the El Clasico he took. Strange that he has no contact information for Mourinho after all that though.

Amirani

I'm a big fan of Mourinho, he seems a genuinely nice person.

bullvine

What an amazing story! yes he can be a dick and even a cheat but hes also an incredibly down to heart human.

messinkiapina

Could never stand Moaninho, but I must say that was really cool of him if the story is accurate.

scudzilla

Mourinho is such a nice guy, seems really genuine and would be a perfect replacement for SAF, i hope he doesn't go back to Chelski, they just don't deserve him

CSF

scudzilla wrote: »

Mourinho is such a nice guy, seems really genuine and would be a perfect replacement for SAF, i hope he doesn't go back to Chelski, they just don't deserve him

They really really don't.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

scudzilla

Phoenix wrote: »

Rofl keep hatin'

Say you work for a company for 3 years and do a great job, then they fire ya, off you go and become really succesful elsewhere, letting you more or less have the pick of working for any other company in your field of work, would you seriously want to go back to the place that treated you like crap?

It ain't hatin, it's just the way things are

Guy:Incognito

Captain Havoc wrote: »

I thought cleats were studs?

From Wiki: Cleats or studs are protrusions on the sole of a shoe, or on an external attachment to a shoe, that provide additional traction on a soft or slippery surface. In American English the term cleats is used synecdochically to refer to shoes featuring such protrusions.


In fairness, it would have been fairly crap of him if Kaka took the studs out of his boots and handed the guy a just the studs.

Professional Griefer

Gotta love Mourinho.

dmc17

He looks like one of the thunderbirds in the first pic

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

WoollyRedHat

No way Jose!

Jimmy Iovine

Brilliant story. I can't imagine what Abel was thinking for those couple of days.

I've grown to like Mourinho. I hated him at the start. It was probably more to do with his success than his character. Pretty much every player he has worked with has had amazing things to say about him. He seems pretty genuine.

Best line in it has to be, "when you're with me in Europe, you don't pay for s---."

Maith an fear.

2ndcoming

Phoenix wrote: »

In your opinion,doesn't make it so!
Btw why do you continuously use "Chelski"

Everyone uses Chelski! It's a fitting title for a club with a patchy at best on-field history on the brink of going out of business, ie Chelsea, which became a plaything for a Russian multi-billionaire, through whose dumping of close to €1bn into the team enjoyed much success. Ie Chelski.

Hope that clears it up.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

2ndcoming

Phoenix wrote: »

LOL
Still sore that Chelsea were the first London club to lift the European Cup are we?;)

A fine purchase indeed. And in such style!

markie29

well this starting off as a nice thread

RayCon

Great story ... and an unreal experiece for Abel ... can't help feeling sorry for his wife and kids - they made a huge sacrifice for their dad/husband - hope they evetually got their holiday.

Kirby

2ndcoming wrote: »

Everyone uses Chelski! It's a fitting title for a club with a patchy at best on-field history on the brink of going out of business, ie Chelsea, which became a plaything for a Russian multi-billionaire, through whose dumping of close to €1bn into the team enjoyed much success. Ie Chelski.

Hope that clears it up.

2ndcoming wrote: »

A fine purchase indeed. And in such style!

If you examine things objectively, how is what they have done any different to how the majority of other big clubs operate? Pay the most money for the best players. Obscene amounts at times.

Real and United have been doing it for years. City are doing it at the moment, as are PSG. If you don't invest tons of money, you get left behind. i.e Arsenal.

gnfnrhead

I really hope he doesnt come back to England. I want to like him but wont be able to if he is at Chelsea and especially if he is at United.

hefferboi

He's like Balotelli. Hard not to love him.

kryogen

Phoenix wrote: »

Rofl keep hatin'

Load of **** tbh

You are going to seriously try to portray Chelsea and in particular their treatment of managers in a good light?

Well good luck with that one buddy, your gonna need it

Why in the name of **** would Mourinho want to go back to a club where he had players thrust upon him that he didnt want? Where he will never really have full control over team affairs which is what he wants? Where he was sacked, despite the success he brought to the club, after an extremely barren run the previous, oh, I dunno, ****load of years?

What have Chelsea done to deserve a manager of his calibre? Treated every other manager employed since the Abramovich era began like ****? Yep, good sales pitch

Won us a double? **** you get out
Won the Champions League? **** you get out
Promised to back you and your project for the club? **** you changed my mind, get out

A manager of his calibre does not need to join that circus again, the likes of Benitez, looking to salvage a tarnished reputation, thats who needs a job like Chelsea.

/rant

Eathrin

hefferboi wrote: »

He's like Balotelli. Hard not to love him.

Except Balotelli has terrible PR and Mourinho doesn't?

iregk

2ndcoming wrote: »

Everyone uses Chelski!

Welcome to 2005. The future awaits you.

2ndcoming

Kirby wrote: »

If you examine things objectively, how is what they have done any different to how the majority of other big clubs operate? Pay the most money for the best players. Obscene amounts at times.

Real and United have been doing it for years. City are doing it at the moment, as are PSG. If you don't invest tons of money, you get left behind. i.e Arsenal.

Well the key difference is that Chelsea weren't and arguably still aren't a big club. Those clubs ability to attract the big players was based on their long standing history of success and huge fanbases, which also afforded them financial clout. Chelski don't fit into that mould because they are, like Man City, an artificial creation based solely on ridiculous amounts of money bankrolled to them by foreign tycoons. They're not investments, calling them that would suggest an expectation of a return.
They are egotistical splurges that make those guys feel good because they show that they are so rich and powerful they can literally buy anything they want, including European sports trophies.

Getting back to the topic at hand, it's a great story and it stands to the sort of man Mourinho is behind all the PR manipulating and press conference showboating.

Soups123

kryogen wrote: »

Load of **** tbh

You are going to seriously try to portray Chelsea and in particular their treatment of managers in a good light?

Well good luck with that one buddy, your gonna need it

Why in the name of **** would Mourinho want to go back to a club where he had players thrust upon him that he didnt want? Where he will never really have full control over team affairs which is what he wants? Where he was sacked, despite the success he brought to the club, after an extremely barren run the previous, oh, I dunno, ****load of years?

What have Chelsea done to deserve a manager of his calibre? Treated every other manager employed since the Abramovich era began like ****? Yep, good sales pitch

Won us a double? **** you get out
Won the Champions League? **** you get out
Promised to back you and your project for the club? **** you changed my mind, get out

A manager of his calibre does not need to join that circus again, the likes of Benitez, looking to salvage a tarnished reputation, thats who needs a job like Chelsea.

/rant

Because the money will be great and he can manage a club that challenges.

2ndcoming

iregk wrote: »

Welcome to 2005. The future awaits you.

Just because 8 years have passed doesn't change the facts.

kfallon

Soups123 wrote: »

Because the money will be great and he can manage a club that challenges.

And I also think Abramovich may have realised what he lost when he sacked José. If Mourinho goes back I think there may be a few guarantees demanded before he accepts it. Mourinho is big enough that he can do this with Abramovich. I would say Chelsea need Mourinho more now than José needs them.

I hate Chelsea but would like to see Mourinho back in the Premiership, he is class!

LuckyLloyd

Phoenix wrote: »

Rofl keep hatin'

Keep doing hateable things!

The owner doesn't give a ****, his own man in the fine tradition of Russian strongmen. But the fans have been plumbing new depths this year.

All that said, Mourinho would be well able to deal with all of it.

iregk

2ndcoming wrote: »

Just because 8 years have passed doesn't change the facts.

Such a coincidence that's the last time you've won a trophy as well isn't it. I can see why you haven't moved on.

2ndcoming

iregk wrote: »

Such a coincidence that's the last time you've won a trophy as well isn't it. I can see why you haven't moved on.

Contrary to what Mirror sports journalists write, I think most Arsenal fans can see the difficulties created by actually trying to invest in the long-term future of the club while unprecedented vanity projects were being conducted in some clubs and Ferguson kept on going at his irrepressible best.

I guess finishing above the billion spending European Champions 2 seasons on the trot will just have to do for now.

This thread should really be kept for the great story in Post 1 and tbh if that's the best comeback you've got I don't think I need to bother getting into this with you anyway. Good luck in the Europa!*


*Next season

iregk

2ndcoming wrote: »

This thread should really be kept for the great story in Post 1 and tbh if that's the best comeback you've got I don't think I need to bother getting into this with you anyway. Good luck in the Europa!*

Hahaha you do realise Chelsea are 3rd right now yes? Arsenal currently in 5th. So who exactly is being wished good luck in Europa for next season?

In any case on topic. That's a truly epic story.