26 The Mail on Sunday October 14, 2007

By Claudia Joseph

UDDLED together i n a b a r i n t h e Portuguese town of Leiria, the charis-matic football coach

Jose Mourinho and his attrac-tive mistress Elsa Sousa sippedtheir coffee and talked inhushed tones.

Despite still being married tohis wife Tami, his childhoodsweetheart and mother of his two young children, the future man-ager of Chelsea and his fashion-able girlfriend barely merited asecond glance.

All the locals believed he was sepa-rated from his wife: after all, he livedin an apartment near the club’s sta-dium, while his wife remained at thefamily home in the exclusive suburbof Setubal, near Lisbon, where hegrew up.

He and Elsa, who had a designerboutique in the town centre, had beendating for three months, were virtu-ally living together and were regu-lars at local bars and restaurants.

But their conversation that day inJanuary 2002, was to have a pro-found effect on Mourinho’s futurecareer – launching him into the lime-light as one of Portugal’s most successful coaches and eventuallyleading to his £4 million-a-year contract as the self-proclaimed‘Special One’ at Chelsea.

He had arrived at the first divisionUniao de Leiria football club the pre-vious year, after working as SirBobby Robson’s translator when theEnglishman was manager at Sport-ing Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona.

Elsa recalls how, on the day, Mourinho picked her up from workand took her to a ‘nice cosy bar’.

‘We sat down at a table and hetalked to me about what was goingon in his football life.

‘He told me that he had had twooffers, from Benfica and Porto, andasked me what I thought about them.I told him that I would prefer him to go to Porto because it was the clubI supported.

‘He said he trusted my instinct andwould choose Porto because of me.Thanks to me he went to Porto andbecame that big famous coach.’

With her slight frame, long blondehair and designer wardrobe, Elsa, 38,looks like a typical footballer’s girl-friend but she speaks several lan-guages, has none of the brashness ofthe British WAGs and has alwaysremained discreet about their rela-tionship, which lasted more than ayear and ended five years ago.

Now, just weeks after Mourinhowas sacked by Chelsea owner RomanAbramovich, she has decided to talkfor the first time about the man whoduped her into believing he wasgoing to divorce the wife he met as ateenager and married in 1980.

She says: ‘The only reason I’m talking now is because he is back in

Portugal which means everybodywill start gossiping again.’

Now, with Mourinho back in his £3million family home, completewith a swimming pool, in Setubal, she says he is a weak man, whosacrificed their love for the sake ofhis family.

It was in July 2001 when Elsa firstset eyes on Mourinho, then 38, as hewas walking into a restaurant inLeiria where she was lunching with a girlfriend.

‘I was sitting at a table in a cornerand was coming to the end of mymeal when I looked up and spottedhim and he smiled at me.

‘I had no idea who he was but Iknew he was new in town becauseeverybody in Leiria knew each other.

‘Mourinho started going aroundwith my friend Zuela, a footballer,who was trained by Mourinho butwas not in the first team.

‘They always seemed to be in thesame cafes and restaurants as me.He never talked to me – he justlooked at me but I was flattered bythe attention.’

A couple of months later, Mourinhovisited Elsa’s shop. ‘He introducedhimself to me. He used the formalmode of address in Portugal and said,

“You are a very beautiful woman.Can I look at you?’’ I said, “Yes.”’

It was Zuela who gave Mourinhoher phone number, and he kept tex-ting her. ‘The first time he texted me,he said, “You are beautiful.” Hesigned it JM.’ A couple of weekslater, he began telephoning her.‘After that he would call me all thetime, day and night,’ Elsa says.

Their first date was towards theend of September, but as a foursomewith Zuela and a girlfriend of Elsa’s.

‘We met halfway and then went the rest of the way in Mourinho’scar,’ recalls Elsa. ‘It was a black

convertible Volvo with leather seats.He was always showing off. It washis way.

‘Mourinho was like that, as if hewas saying, “I’m Mourinho. I’m thespecial one. I’m God.” I wasn’t par-ticularly impressed. I’m used to nicecars but I liked his arrogance.

‘That’s what got my attention. Hisconfidence was very attractive. He

is very proud of himself and hewould compliment himself a lot. Hewould say, “I’m very good. I’m thebest. I know I can do it. I know whatI am worth.” He believed in himself.He knew what he wanted.

‘The only thing he didn’t know waswhat he wanted in his private life. Hewas like a genius, who can only con-centrate on one part of his life.’

On that first date, Elsa says, theyhad just one drink – a Baileys each –but talked all night.

She adds: ‘When he dropped mehome about midnight, he told me thathe was separated from his wifebecause he was not happy with her. Iam sure he was telling me the truth.

‘He wasn’t wearing a wedding ringand I had no reason to disbelievehim. I am sure the only reason hewas not divorced was because of hisfamily. He said that I didn’t deserveto be fooled around.

‘After that we went out almostevery night. We used to go back tohis flat for a drink. It was a simplethree-bedroom apartment, whichwas owned by the club. Two of thebedrooms were always locked. Hedidn’t have many things there, justhis clothes and a few papers andCDs. There were no photographs

anywhere. It was like a hotel room.We didn’t really spend much time in the apartment. We had a fewthings in the fridge but we alwayswent out for meals. I can’t imaginehim cooking.

‘We didn’t even drink at home.When we were there, he used to lightthe fire and put on some music. Hehad about six or seven CDs.

‘We used to listen to the Eagles songHotel California, which I liked, andSting. Most of the time, we listened to a radio station that played Ameri-can golden oldies and romantic ballads. That was the music whichsoothed us.’

A month later, after dinner withfriends at their favourite restaurant,they made love for the first time.

Elsa says: ‘He lit the fire, put on aballad, and told me that he had fallenin love with me. He was very gentle,very sweet and attentive towardsme. I stayed the night and didn’tmove out.

‘After that he would always driveme to work, like a husband,’ sheadded, giggling.

‘We would stop at a newspaper kioskand he would buy the sports papers A Bola and the Record and then wewould have breakfast together if we

H

EXCLUSIVEThe former Chelseamanager’s secret

lover talks for the firsttime about the man sheregarded as a husband

‘He liked showingoff – it’s just his way’

LOVE MATCH:Mourinho’s formermistress ElsaSousa. ‘I liked hisarrogance,’ shesays. Left:Mourinho withwife Tami duringChelsea days