AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho has played down claims that Roberto Martinez was Portugal's first choice to replace Fernando Santos.
Martinez was unveiled as Portugal's new head coach after Santos was relieved of his duties following the nationa's quarter-final exit at the 2022 FIFA World Cup,
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Portuguese Football Federation president Fernando Gomes says Martinez was onlyt the coach they made proposal to.
“What interested me from the first hour was defining the profile. We spoke, within this, with many people. The only concrete proposal we made to be a coach, was Roberto Martínez.”
Mourinho, however, claims the Portuguese Football Federation president said he was the 'only choice'.
“Today I can talk to you and say something that maybe you are not very interested in, but I want to thank the president of the Portuguese Federation," Mourinho told reporters, as per Goal.
"What he said made me very proud, saying that I was not the first choice, but his only choice and that he would have done anything to get me home.
"He made me very happy. But I didn't go, I'm here and I'm giving my all."
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