Jose Mourinho thanks Pele for giving him ‘one of my proudest moments’

Jose Mourinho has revealed his pride at having the chance to meet Pele in a touching tribute to the Brazilian legend following his death at the age of 82.

Pele’s passing was confirmed on Thursday by his family, with the three-time World Cup winner having been in hospital for a number of weeks following a battle with colon cancer.

Back in 2005, Pele received a lifetime achievement award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and Mourinho was on hand to present him with the gong. 

Jose Mourinho has written about his pride at meeting Pele in 2005 at an awards ceremony

Mourinho’s message was alongside a picture of him and Pele embracing one another

The Roma boss posted on Instagram on Thursday night to reveal how much of an honour it was to spend time in Pele’s company during their meeting 17 years ago.

‘In 2005 I received the BBC award directly from the king’s hands, and to this day it’s one of my proudest moments. I was so so happy to have him in Manchester where we had such a nice chat and nice time,’ Mourinho wrote.  

‘Rest in peace King Pelé and thinking of his loved ones.

‘I am very sad.’

Mourinho also received an award on that same evening in 2005, as he was named Coach of the Year after guiding Chelsea to their first top-flight title in 50 years. 

Mourinho is not the only high-profile manager to pay their respects to Pele after his passing.

Pele won the World Cup three times, leading to him being nicknamed ‘The King’

Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti took to Twitter to post the message: ‘Rest in peace, The King,’ alongside a picture of Pele smiling.

Pele was affectionately known as ‘The King’ in his homeland of Brazil and around the world after his glittering career that saw him break record after record.

He remains the only male player to have won three World Cups, and he scored in two finals in 1958 and 1970.

Pele is also still Brazil’s record goalscorer over 50 years after he finished playing for his country, having netted 77 goals in 92 appearances for the national team.

Neymar joined him on 77 goals earlier this month when he scored against Croatia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar.