Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho ruled himself out for the
vacant job as England coach on Monday.
"After deep and serious thinking I decided to exclude myself
from being England manager despite it being a fantastic position
for me," Mourinho said in a statement published on the Web site of
Gestifute (www.gestifute.com), his Portuguese agents.
England began the search for a coach following Steve McClaren's
sacking after last month's failure to qualify for Euro 2008.
Captain of England John Terry said last week that Mourinho, his
former manager at Chelsea, would be the best choice to replace
McClaren, saying the Portuguese "could make a big difference".
But Mourinho thought otherwise, even though his representatives
had contact with the Football Association (FA) after McClaren's
departure.
"I'm sure the FA will hire a great manager, one able to place
the team back where it belongs," Mourinho said in the
statement.
"I reiterate my respect for English football and, after three
years in England, I firmly believe the England squad will soon be
back to their usual great results."
Mourinho has been resting at home in Setubal since leaving
Chelsea by mutual consent in September.
He has given no indication of his next career move.
McClaren replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson after last year's World
Cup finals in Germany but his reign was doomed after England lost
3-2 to Croatia at Wembley and failed to qualify for Euro 2008 in
Austria and Switzerland.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick and head of soccer development
Trevor Brooking have been charged with finding a new manager and
have been canvassing opinion from leading figures in the game.
Mourinho had been one of the three favorites, along with Italian
frontrunner Fabio Capello and his compatriot Marcello Lippi, who
won the 2006 World Cup with Italy.
Capello has expressed an interest in the job while Lippi told
BBC sport on Monday he had had "no contact at all" with the FA.
Other names in the frame include former Germany striker and
World Cup coach Juergen Klinsmann, Aston Villa manager Martin
O'Neill and former England forward Alan Shearer.
(Agencies via China Daily December 11, 2007)