Joao Alves and his 'no' to Real Madrid: "I made a fool"
ANDThe luso exfutbolista mticoJoo Alves, that as a playerrejected an offer from Real Madrid to sign for Benfica, come back after five years to train astechnical of the Acadmica de Coimbra, club dean of Portugal to which to try to take back to the First Portuguese division.
Alves, whojug in the extinct Unin Deportiva Salamanca, which also enter, became popular in Spanish football by always playingwith black gloves, in the middle of the decade of the 70's.Also milit in the Pars Saint Germainand I discovered players like Pedro Pauleta.
The technician assures an interview with EFE thathe has not had nor will he have an agente, even though he is aware that he has caused a problem.
- At 65, after a successful stage in Switzerland, why do you start training again?
- Because I feel like it, with the Acadmica I have a lot of union, I was here 16 years ago and I managed then to return to the First Division of Portugal. In addition, it is a historic club and the city is very beautiful. The challenge is not easy, but I've always been optimistic.
- What system and game methodology do you use?
- Adapt the system to the players and not the players to the system. It's very simple, I take advantage of the best of the best to prepare the best eleven. Now, I have to recover the players psychologically, since they started the competition badly and then, all to work.
- He refuses to have an intermediary agent.
- There are entrepreneurs who have two or three clubs, you have to stop a little and reflect, because this is an outrage. This football has nothing to do with the football of long ago.
- If I had an agent, would I have already been coach of Benfica or the Portugal team?
- S, I also had contacts to train both Benfica and the Portuguese team, but there has always been someone who was against me, which prevented it.
- An is it possible?
- How am I going to answer that! Logically it is very difficult, although I imagine that now with the Coimbra I do the same thing that I did with the Servette of Switzerland, that I took it in Second and took it to the Europa League. Even so it is very complicated, I am 65 years old, it is very difficult.
- Of his grandfather, who was also a footballer, hered always playing with black gloves, as he did and has even created the Luvas Pretas Football School (Black Gloves).
- It's a school in the Alentejo region where I have coaches, parents of children, it's something very familiar, it's not a business, it's something symbolic of a group of people that we have a friendship that was created 12 years ago.
- He returned to Salamanca in 1996 as a coach thanks to his friend and then president Juan Jos Hidalgo.
- It was verysui gneris, since I am the one who is now one of the great entrepreneurs of Europe, Juan Jos Hidalgo (Air Europa), that I knew him because he was the driver of the buses that transported us when I played (between 1976 and 1978) in Salamanca and then he was the club president, whom I admire and with whom I have great friendship.
- That year he revolutionized football with a landing of Portuguese players at UD Salamanca, such as Pauleta, who is now the director of the Portuguese Football Federation.
- They arrived great as Taira, Cesar Brito, Pauleta, Z Roberto, Rogrio or the Brazilian Giovanella or Catanha.
- How was the story of Pauleta, who later became a world soccer star?
- (Laughter) What happened was very simple, Pauleta -with 23 years old- arrived for free in Salamanca and the medical department rejected him because he had a pubalgia, something that most of the players have. I told the president (Juan Jos Hidalgo) to take responsibility for Pauleta to stay and confide in me and we threw out the entire medical department. Now with Pauleta I maintain an excellent relationship.
- As a player, during his time in Salamanca with Garca Traid as a coach, he was named the best foreign footballer in the Spanish League, despite the fact that in those years Cruyff and Kempes played, which is why in 1978 Real Madrid wanted to sign him and you rejected the offer.
- I made a fool, missed a great opportunity, was the maximum, refused to play in the best club in the world and it was my fault. I did not accept the offer because I wanted to play with Benfica, since between the clubs of Salamanca and Madrid everything was done.
- What friends do you still have after your period of player and coach in Spanish football?
- I had a good relationship with Johan Cruyff; of that team of Salamanca I get along very well with Pedraza, ngel – who then signed for Madrid- Bustillo. And I have a very good relationship with Vicente del Bosque.
