- Shamser Khalid
Roma Players Celebrate Jose Mourinho's 60th Birthday
Jose Mourinho has turned 60, and the Associazione Sportiva Roma (Roma) celebrated his birthday with a serenade and cake in the dressing room. Jose also shared a video featuring the Portugues Manager and footage of the dressing room celebration on their social media.
The video tribute was posted on Thursday and began with the arrival of Mourinho in the capital in 2021, then continues with celebrations in Tirana for the Conference League victory this past May.
In the released footage of the birthday celebration, it showed Mourinho being serenaded with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ by the assembled Roma side in their dressing room. Several members of his backroom staff were also seen in the video clapping for Mourinho before the manager was given a cake to mark the occasion.
After receiving birthday wishes and blowing out the candles, the manager is seen giving a slice of cake to club captain, Lorenzo Pellegrini. It is the second time Mourinho gave a slice of cake to the captain. The manager had previously given the player a slice on his 59th birthday.
When asked to make a speech, Mourinho waved off the request and stated they had work to do for the game on Sunday.
Following the release of the Twitter videos, Jose was reportedly caught in an interview when leaving Roma’s training facilities. During the interview, he stated, “I’m very happy because I received a lot of messages, lots of love and respect. It was special to receive these from people I hardly know, which you don’t expect at all.”
Jose Mourinho signed a three-year deal with the Giallorossi in 2021. The news brought so much excitement to fans that the Stadio Olimpico has been sold out for the last 19 home matches in Serie A.
Under Mourinho’s management, Roma managed to win the Europa Conference League in 2021. This victory made Mourinho the first coach to complete the UEFA treble by winning the Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and Europa Conference League (in place of the defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup).
In addition, he was the fifth manager to reach the final of all three current major European competitions and the first to reach a major European final with four different clubs. Out of 1,076 games he coached, he has won 677 games, and his teams scored 2,082 goals.
Before signing with Roma, Mourinho managed Benfica, Uniao de Leiria, Porto, Chelsea (twice), Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Tottenham. One of his most notable moments was with Chelsea. In his first season with the team, Chelsea won the EFL Cup and the Premier League. It was Chelsea's first domestic title in 50 years, and at the time they broke the record for the most points in a Premier League season (95) and the fewest goals conceded (15).
Currently, Roma is preparing to face Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli (Napoli) at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday for the Serie A. The club is 5th in the standings with 37 points. If they defeat Napoli (who only has one loss in the tournament so far), Roma could launch to the top of the standings.
