Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho said on Sunday that he will not become a national team manager after being refused permission to take temporary charge of his native Portugal in the autumn.

The former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss had been approached to replace Carlos Queiroz, but Real blocked the approach and Paulo Bento eventually took full-time charge of the national side.

Mourinho described the thing as his "greatest frustration of 2010".

"I believe that I will never coach a national team because it's a question of mentality, of personality," Mourinho said.

"I am a coach who works every day, is ready to play three times a week if necessary. But at that moment, I was motivated to do it." He said.

Real went into the winter break trailing Barcelona by two points in the Spanish first division league.

"In all great institutions, the pressure is always huge. Ideally, I will stay until the end of my contract. But I know, and we all know, that I can't stay one, two or three years without winning a trophy," said Mourinho, who has a four-year deal with Real.