Paulo ferreira has recounted his family drama in an interview with “Expresso Tribune”. The 41-year-old ex-footballer has also spoken about his time at Chelsea and being coached by Mourinho.
Father: “My father was an alcoholic even then. It is complicated, I went through a phase of my childhood that was not very easy, I saw many things. My father comes home drunk every day, sometimes punching, pissing and I had to take it home sometimes, change it and bandage it … It was somewhat complicated, so the alcohol came later in my life. My father did not care much about football because of the situation, it worried my mother much more. Especially since Cascais started going to the games, she was the one who sometimes helped in the raffles to raise money for the team's trip or dinner at the end of the year. She was the one who started to accompany me more. At that time we didn't have a car, but there were some parents who were impeccable and often at distance matches they would pick her up from home so she could see them. “
Death of your father: “Yes, on the eve of the game against Barcelona at the Porto premiere. We were in Olival's training session and at the end of training Mourinho calls me and tells me to call Laura. I called and he gave me the news. I went to Cascais, I went to the funeral and left early. Although Mourinho told me to come back only when I was fit and ready. But I came back the day after the funeral. I spoke with my mother and I thought it was better for me to fly and start training. Also because I knew she was in good company, my brothers were with her. I guess she was playing by the following weekend. “
Was your father's death sudden?: “Due to alcohol we ended up talking to my father and at 63, 64 years old, we thought it was better to put him in a home because otherwise it would be very complicated, he would not stop, he would drink every day. We came to that decision, he did not want to, but we thought it was the best for him. It was. I was the youngest person in the house. I was always the first to go down and take care of the garden. Every time I went to Cascais I went to visit him and he was with him we spent the day together He had already gained weight, he had a better face, he looked better, he was recovering, but one morning he did not come down, the waitresses were strange and when they got to the room he was already dead. It was a sudden heart attack. “
Mourinho: “I met Mourinho because his father worked in Vitoria de Setúbal. Mourinho leaves Benfica, he stays the second half of the championship without training and was almost always in Setúbal, watching practically all our games at home. I remember meeting him, if I don't remember wrong, it was even in the time of Jesus. When I return after lunch for the meeting that Jesus had scheduled, I arrived at the stadium park and Mourinho was talking with his father; we were some friends and I when we arrived, my son was left behind ashamed , I greeted his father and then when I go to greet him he tells me right away: “You have to leave here, you cannot stay here.” I thanked him, told him that I was doing that, those things and I continued with my business. the Unión Deportiva de Leiria, the year we moved up in the division, Mourinho started the season at Leiria and I remember a home game that we drew 0-0. At the end of the game I agreed to meet a Leiria player who was with me in the juveniles of Estoril to talk to him. As soon as we met he said to me: 'Oh Paulinho, Mourinho loves you, he gave you a moral in the meeting before the game, don't say anything. If you were our partner, he would have stayed for a while … He would just have said 'we have to be careful on that side because Paul goes up a lot, we have to be very careful'. At the end of that season, Mourinho goes to Porto. “
Trained by Mourinho: “It was a pleasant surprise because of the working methods, always with the ball, the organization, everything in detail. For me it was impressive because it came from preseason that was very based on races, without the ball, very physical and arriving and doing a whole preseason always with the ball. He was not used to it and it was very good. “
Fight between Mourinho and Baía; “It was complicated. I had to respect him, I stayed in my corner listening. Vitor is a player with a lot of experience and they had been together in Barcelona so there was already a relationship. I stayed there quietly, I did not get involved, logically. It was a difficult moment. for Vitor and Mourinho, but fortunately things worked out. This is football, sometimes there are reactions between the coaches and the players, but then things work out. He was very focused on what he had to do. When Vitor left and entered Nuno Espirito Santo also gave us a lot of confidence, he helped us and we were calm. We knew that Vitor was coming back. “
Mourinho speech at Chelsea: “It was the same. The levels of demand are the same, with Mourinho it is to win. We started the second year with the same objectives, not only to want to win trophies, but to maintain the quality of the game.”
Continue with Mourinho: “I knew I was going to go with him, I didn't know where.”
He told you to go with him: “Yes, he told me. Only the coach wants to take a player, but sometimes things may not work out. But I kept calm and also focused on the national team.”
Signing for Chelsea: “I'm in the national team and I get a call from Jorge Mendes to go see him. That was when the photographers saw me on Abramovich's boat and that's where I reached an agreement with the club.”
Did Mourinho change from Porto to Chelsea?: “There is this evolution, that growth and maturation as a coach as well and it has been noticed, even after Chelsea continued to win, grow and mature even more. But you don't change the same will to want to win.”
Mourinho different in England to Portugal: “No. It was exactly the same, with the same demands, the same will to want to win, the same heartburn when losing, rigorous and hard with the players when it had to be, direct and with the same personality. It is normal that the person changes here or there, but in essence, the ambition and the will is always the same “.
Virtues and defects of Mourinho: “He's a fantastic human being. Maybe people think otherwise, but he's a friendly person. A flaw? I don't know if it's a flaw, but maybe he freaks out because he's too upfront and direct. But I don't think be a defect “.
Default: “Maybe it's too quiet. It could be a flaw.”
Mourinho's assistant: “It's complicated. Logically, if I could work with Mourinho it would be great. Being able to work with a winning coach is always good because look what happened now with Arteta, who worked with Guardiola for three years, and is now the coach of Arsenal. But That doesn't mean that I have to leave when I start as an assistant, maybe I even think that being a coach is not for me and that I will be a good assistant. I don't know. “
Has not called: “No, because I don't talk much about it either. Right now I'm fine, nothing has come up because I'm not announcing it either. And if that's the case, I can also talk to someone, I can ask, but I have never talked because I'm fine.”
Departure from Mourinho: “It was difficult for everyone. We did not expect it and it was very difficult. The way he left we did not expect it. Personally, he was an important coach in my career and seeing him go is always difficult. He was the person who did everything so that I went with him to Chelsea, we won most of the trophies together, a strong relationship was created and it's not easy, it cost a lot. “
Doubts: “It crossed my mind if I could go with him. But we know that it is not like that. We are professionals, we have contracts with the clubs and we have to move on. He had two more years of contract at that time and after he left , I followed another three years. “
Renewal: “He was happy and good at the club. London is a great city.”
Continuity after England: “Yes, we were good. I was playing and when the opportunity to renew arose, I took it. Then I had the opportunity to go out to good clubs.”
Interested clubs: “There was talk of Juventus, Atlético de Madrid and Zenit”.
I didn't want to go out: “I already had Diogo and Maria who were at school. We were stabilized and we thought maybe this is where we would stay until the boys got to university and then maybe we would go back to Portugal. I could have left and we don't know what the future had in store for us, but maybe if I had left I wouldn't have won a UEFA Europa League and a Champions League like I did with Chelsea. I don't regret it. These were decisions made together with the family. “
Abramovich: “A very calm person, even a little shy, perhaps because of the language. But I was very surprised by the positive, his way of being, especially when I arrived at Chelsea. I watched all the matches, always came to the locker room after the matches, He would sit next to us, talk to the players and listen to the conversations. Someone very simple, even in terms of clothing. A fantastic person. “
Premier Champion with Chelsea: “It was a bit difficult because we had a spectacular season, especially in the first year that we finished the championship with 15 goals against, which in English football is not normal, so much so that we still have that record of the team with the fewest goals in Against. Internally we dominated and in the Champions League there was that goal at Anfield that was crossed, Gallas carried the ball over the line and today maybe if it were with VAR it would have been different. But at that moment it is difficult, it has to be a decision fast. It cost us, it was something we really wanted. And as the years went by we started to feel that maybe this was the last year. Maybe we won't win anymore, it was going to be difficult. I felt that sadness also for those players who had been there for so many years trying, almost succeeding and they stayed very close … Fortunately in 2012 we managed to win the Champions League “.
Last year as a player: “The idea was to keep playing because I felt good. Although in recent years I did not play much. I felt useful for the team and every time they called me I think it was appropriate. When the season ended the idea was to continue playing, maybe to a lower level or in a different league, with less intensity. Jorge also tried to keep me playing, but time passed. I finished the contract, I was 34 years old and from the few games I knew I was going to leave. So now I was getting ready and talking to Jorge. “
Idols: “Maradona. It marked me a lot to see him at the World Cup in Mexico '86 where he carried Argentina on his back. And also what he did in 1990.”
Milli: “I went to the tests, which was normal, I was suitable for any specialty and when I had to choose I didn't know whether to go or not, because if I played football I could even go to the reserve because I was a professional footballer. As I had an older brother, Luis, who was as a soldier and had another, Delmar, who was in the normal troops, I saw what they were going through; it was a big difference and I decided to play it safe, so I decided to join the normal troops, the army. If I had to go, that was all. It was the year we went down from Second Division to Second B, when Pietra came out and Rui Águas came in. When he arrived, I played the first three, four games of the championship; the fourth game It was in Barreirense, and after that game I asked a colleague, Baroti, to shave my hair because the next day I had to report to the barracks. I was in the army for six months. “
army: “It cost me in the sense that I stopped playing. It was a good moment, I was starting well, four games, 90 minutes in total, and the military service ended 'cutting my legs' because I ended up losing six months at a time when that I thought things could change. “
Night out in the army: “It was not a great start, I was very focused on my career. I left it more for the time of the holidays, at the end of the season. But it was not about drinking, I only drank Coca-Cola and at that time I did not have a car But I already had a license. I was going with a friend to Lisbon and on the way back he would tell me to bring the car. For them it was great if I could go out because that way they could drink freely. “
Toughest opponent: “I have played against Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi. Come and choose I also had a bad time with Gareth Bale in the Tottenham era. But for me, the one who in terms of talent, quality, technique, strength and speed, was the most difficult it was Ronaldinho. He was spontaneous, he had immense creativity and I caught him in his phase of the two golden boots. Cristiano is also another very difficult one. “
Clubs you would have liked to play for: “I really liked Milan. I think they had great players at that time with the Dutch and it was a club that had something that attracted me. And in South America I would have liked to play for Boca Juniors.”