His name undoubtedly does not speak to the young generation while his track record imposes some. Carlos Secretario, 50, has won a Champions League, a Europa League, six Portuguese league titles with FC Porto, one in Spain with Real Madrid… The former Portuguese international right-back with 35 caps who has become a coach since 2007 today makes Créteil happy, 3rd in the National before the reception of Quevilly-Rouen this Friday (8 pm). Discreet about his career as a professional player (from 1988 to 2005), he agreed to open the memory box.
“Roberto Carlos, one of the strongest”
“I played with Hierro, Redondo, Raul at Real Madrid (1996-1997), Jardel who scored in all positions in Porto. But Roberto Carlos, whom I met in Spain, remains one of the strongest with his speed, his dynamism, his powerful strike. In any case, he’s the best full-back I’ve played with during my career. I can’t forget Deco either, he was nicknamed the magician in Porto. In fact, Mourinho, our coach at the time, told us once at half-time in a match against Benfica in 2002: if you have difficulty, give him the ball. And we won 2-1 thanks to him. There is also Figo (Ballon d’Or in 2000), also above. “
“Mourinho, the coach who marked me”
“Many coaches have marked my career but Mourinho remains apart. He changed mentalities in Porto (from 2002 to 2004), gave us a lot of confidence. Especially during a round of 16 of the Champions League in 2004, the year we won after the Europa League in 2003. We had fallen on Manchester United and facing this kind of team scared us a little. But from the draw, the first thing he told us: Manchester will be eliminated. Costinha equalizes for the 1-1 in the 90th at Old Trafford and qualifies us for the quarter-finals after our 2-1 first leg win. I learned a lot from him but I will never be able to imitate him (smile). “
«Porto, Real Madrid …»
“From all these years, I remember the signing of my first license in Porto after a third successful attempt, I was 16 years old, we had opened the champagne with my father. But there is the victory in the final of the Champions League, in which I did not participate (3-0 against Monaco in 2004). Porto had not won it since 1987. From the airport to our stadium, the double-decker bus could not move forward because there were so many people. A restaurant friend of our caretaker Vitor Baia, who did not believe in us, had lost his bet and offered us lobsters. I also remember the phone call from Manuel Sanchis, Real Madrid captain who remained close. I signed up for two seasons in 1996 but I resigned after a year and a half to return to Porto because I played less, I did not want to stay and just say: I’m in Real. He had called me to tell me that I was going to receive part of the bonus, nearly € 50,000, after their victory in the Champions League (1-0 against Juventus in 1998) at the initiative of the club then that it was not at all planned. “
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