Chapter 3: Mourinho at the Piazza del Duomo
In 2009 I won Serie A with Inter. We had spent a long season playing games, training, travelling, staying in hotels and missing our families. Now we were finally champions.
So, you know, we had plans to go and celebrate like mad.
That’s what champions do, right?
But our coach was the one and only José Mourinho. And, well, let’s just say that The Special One had a very different plan in mind!
Hahaha.
This is what happened: We were in a hotel in Milan on a Saturday, preparing to play Siena on Sunday. We knew that if Milan lost to Udinese that night, we would be champions. So we were all watching the game together. When Milan lost, we went crazy.
INTER, CAMPIONE D’ITALIA!
Where to go? Easy. We have a place called the Piazza del Duomo, which is the main square of Milan. This is where Inter celebrate their titles with the fans. But when I spoke to Javier Zanetti, our captain, and some of the other players, they said that Mourinho didn’t want us to go there.
Mourinho wanted us to rest before the Siena game. It didn’t make sense! We had won the title. We had no other competitions left to play.
Then I realised that Mourinho wanted to break the record for the number of wins in a Serie A season, or something like that. It was a milestone that would make him look good.
So I got really mad, hahaha. I told Zanetti, “We have to go to the Piazza. We deserve it.”
Just then Mourinho walked past. He shouted, “Júlio César, why don’t you go there by yourself?”
I shouted back, “Everyone wants to go. They’re just afraid to tell you, but I’m not.”
Mourinho kept walking towards his room. I wasn’t going to just accept this, so I went after him. When he went into his room, I followed him. He lay down on the bed and I told him, “Look, if you don’t go to the Piazza, you will never win a championship again.”
Suddenly Mourinho got up and began swearing at me. He was calling me every name under the sun. I’m not sure, but I think he might have taken what I said seriously.
In either case, two buses soon arrived to take us to the Piazza del Duomo.
Moments later we were in the square singing and celebrating with the fans. At one point — I was pretty drunk — I grabbed Mourinho by the neck and said, “So you really wanted to stay at the hotel?! Look at this! This is for you!”
He just began to laugh. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was 5 a.m. We went straight to bed.
And then we beat Siena 3–0.
Chapter 4: Tears in Madrid
In 2008–09 my relationship with Mourinho was like father and son. And then it got more … well, let’s just say it got more complex.
Come spring 2010 we were fighting for the league title, the Italian cup and the Champions League — the treble. I was playing terribly. My confidence was gone. One day, as I was warming up before training, Mourinho walked over to me and said, with a voice as cold as ice:
“Look, you have gone from the world’s best keeper to a Serie C keeper.”
Hahaha.
That was his way of encouraging me, you know? The idea was that I’d be provoked to do better. And with most of our players it would have worked. That team was so successful because Mourinho treated us in a direct and transparent way. No matter who you were he would criticise you in front of the group. But the thing is, not everyone reacts well to this kind of leadership. And I didn’t. I lost confidence. Out on the pitch, I became even more insecure.
Still, another great thing about Mourinho was that if you felt unfairly treated, you could talk to him. So that spring we had a long chat that cleared the air.
Before that I had felt heavy and sad.
Afterwards I was back to normal.
A few months later UEFA named me the goalkeeper of the year in Europe. We won the league and the cup. But the big one was the Champions League. Inter hadn’t won it in 45 years and the club president, Massimo Moratti, was obsessed with it.
We played the final against Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. I had invited about 70 or 80 people! All family and friends — from the U.S., Italy, Brazil, everywhere. When the ref blew the final whistle, I walked across the pitch to celebrate with my family and friends. I especially wanted to see my mum, Maria de Fátima. She was the one who had encouraged me to stick to 11-a-side football as a kid, even though I liked futsal better. I kissed her and hugged her.
It’s wonderful to enjoy such moments with the people who supported you on your journey.
Out on the pitch the players and the staff were hugging each other, kissing each other, tears rolling down … I found my son, Cauet, put him on my shoulders and walked back out with my teammates.
He was able to celebrate that moment with me, too.
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