Samuel Eto'o on José Mourinho before the Champions League semi-final against FC Barcelona: "What surprised me most was that Mourinho barely spoke about tactics in the final meeting. Everyone expected discussions about Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta. Instead, he spoke about courage." "He told us: 'Tomorrow, millions of people expect Barcelona to win. That is their pressure, not ours. The world has already written the story. Our job is to change the ending.' " "The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. We stopped feeling like a team trying to survive against Barcelona and started feeling like a team with an opportunity to make history." "Mourinho understood something many coaches don't: before a player can beat a great opponent, he must first beat the idea that the opponent is unbeatable. By kickoff, that battle was already woZinedine Zidane on Spain leaving Real Madrid players out of the World Cup squad: 🗣️ “Some decisions in football stop making sense when politics enters the game. You cannot convince me the biggest club in the world suddenly has no players good enough for Spain. But football always exposes people in the end.” “Meanwhile, Barcelona fans are celebrating call-ups like trophies… it’s been over 10 years since they last touched a European Cup anyway.” 😭🏆 Football heritage always speaks in the end. 👀🔥n." 🏆🔥
