Bento da Costa clarified the decision in 2001/02: “Octavio Machado and his assistant do not want Jardel” – FC Porto

“One of the best assistants ever at FC Porto” had a preponderant role, as head coach already, in Mario Jardel’s move to Sporting, in 2001/2002. This was one of the powerful ideas, never addressed head-on before, in yesterday’s edition of the documentary series “Ironias do Destino”, in which Pinto da Costa reviews 39 years of his presidency.

Bento da Costa, of Octavio Machado, said of Octavio Machado: “Things did not go well, this is the life of coaches, but he was someone who scored his time correctly at FC Porto,” recalling in detail the process he went through with Mario Jardel: “It was Unexpectedly free and showed his willingness to come to FC Porto We said yes, it was even Rinaldo Telles who picked him up at the airport. He already left there with his FC Porto scarf, he even bought an apartment in Porto during the afternoon, then all Something ready to be completed the next day. At night, Rinaldo Telles and I went to the Tivoli Hotel, where the team was, and Octavio and his assistant, Rui Oliveira, told us that there was a chance that Jardel would come and they thought they didn’t want to. I remember they said they put the team to play in 4x4x2 and that Jardel wasn’t a good fit for this scheme. Above all, it was the influence of the teacher, he understood that he wasn’t. It was obvious that hiring a player the coaches didn’t want didn’t make sense.”

The blue and white leader also mentioned the signing process for Jose Mourinho, who was about to return to Benfica when he moved to FC Porto: “It was three in the morning, I woke up Dr. Adelino Caldera to come and sign a contract with Mourinho. It was agreed that he would stay in Leiria, not come. soon … “