Mourinho determined to be a winner at Real Madrid (Roundup)

By Duncan Shaw May 31, 2010, 13:42 GMT

Madrid - Spanish giants Real Madrid presented Jose Mourinho as their new coach, at a packed news conference on Monday.

The Portuguese coach specifically asked Real for a low-profile presentation, without the presence of fans.

Mourinho, 47, has signed a four-year contract with Real with an annual salary estimated at 10 million euros (12.28 million dollars).

Real president Florentino Perez has agreed to pay Inter Milan 16 million euros, which was the buyout fee for Mourinho's contract with the European champions.

Mourinho was presented to the media by Jorge Valdano, Real's general director, who claimed that his differences with Mourinho 'have been resolved more than three years ago.'

Valdano, looking tense, explained that, several years ago, when he was not working for Real, 'I wrote in an aggressive tone about Jose. That was sorted out in a personal meeting, very rapidly.'

Valdano then said that he was 'proud to introduce one of the most prestigious coaches in the world,' and called Mourinho 'the best coach at this moment for Real Madrid.'

Mourinho, smiling and relaxed, started out by excusing his faulty Spanish, then promised that it would improve 'within a month.'

He then said that 'I don't know if I was born to coach Real Madrid,' said Mourinho, 'but I am sure that I was born to be a football coach.'

'I am a coach,' he added, 'and I like difficult challenges. The beautiful thing is not to play for Real Madrid or coach Real Madrid but to win with Real Madrid. And that is my motivation.'

Mourinho added that 'the attraction of Real Madrid for me is because of its history, because of its frustrations in recent years and because of its expectations of victory. It is a unique club, and for a player or coach not to have been at Real Madrid is an important hole in their career.

When asked about his relationship with compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, Real's biggest star, Mourinho replied that 'Cristiano is a very important player for Real and for football in general, but the strength of my teams has always been the group, not the individuals.'

He added that 'it is too early to talk about transfers. The first thing is to get to know my new club, to ask a lot of questions, and to process a lot of answers. '

Mourinho revealed that he has already talked with veteran captain Raul, who has hinted that he might leave Real this summer.

'I have already talked with Raul this morning,' he said. 'I don't want to say anything more about Raul because I have not mentioned our conversation to the director general or to the president.'

When asked about Barcelona, he said that 'I am not ant-Barcelona. I am the coach of Real Madrid and I am concerned about Real Madrid, not about Barcelona.

'I want to build a great Real Madrid, not think about Barcelona. If they hate me in Barcelona then it is the problem of the people that hate me, not mine.'

Mourinho is Real's 11th coach since 2003. His predecessor, Manuel Pellegrini, was sacked last week after finishing second in La Liga behind Barcelona and after flopping in the Champions League and Spanish cup.