![\"Martin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_monjosePNG.png\")
Martin O’Neill couldn’t resit a pop at Jose Mourinho<\/p>\nThe former Hoops boss still can’t get over what happened on THAT night in Seville back in the 2002\/03 season<\/p>\n
11:11, 01 Oct 2025Updated 19:33, 01 Oct 2025<\/p>\n
Martin O’Neill couldn’t resit a pop at Jose Mourinho<\/p>\n
They say that time is a healer.<\/p>\n
Try telling that to Martin O’Neill <\/a>over that UEFA Cup Final in Seville back in the 2002\/03 campaign.<\/p>\n 22 years may have passed since that showdown, but he still holds a grudge towards Jose Mourinho<\/a> and his Porto team and their antics as he made a jibe live on air.<\/p>\n The former Celtic<\/a> boss was part of the Premier Sports TV pundit team as ‘The Special One’ returned to former club Chelsea<\/a> in the Champions League<\/a> with new side Benfica.<\/p>\n O’Neill revealed his respect for the Portuguese gaffer in terms of his winner status and just how good a manager he is.<\/p>\n However, he couldn’t resit the chance to joke about his Porto team ‘cheating the whole way’ to UEFA Cup glory back in 2002\/03.<\/p>\n It was a memorable run to that showpiece that ended in heartbreak for the Hoops with Henrik Larsson’s two stunners not enough for the Parkhead side as they lost out 3-2 after extra-time.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s a great manager, a really great manager. He\u2019s very, very clever. He’s just wanting to remind people of how good he was.<\/p>\n “He’s trying to play down as if I’ve settled a little bit. Jose will never settle. Great, great manager, what he did.<\/p>\n “But it doesn\u2019t mean that they didn\u2019t cheat their whole way to the UEFA Cup Final and lie down in heaps and go to Porto every single day”, O\u2019Neill joked on Premier Sports.<\/p>\n It was then suggested in the studio that O’Neill seemed to hold a grudge he added: “Listen, every night.”<\/p>\n However, he was quick to praise Mourinho’s achievements at Chelsea, saying: “If the world ended tomorrow, he’s one of the greats. Really great manager.<\/p>\n “What he did at Chelsea. This idea that he locked up shop – he knew how to win, and he won.<\/p>\n “I’ve got the utmost admiration for him as a winner. He took Chelsea up there.<\/p>\n “I know he had very great players. Frank Lampard, Drogba, John Terry. It really doesn’t matter.<\/p>\n “You still have to manage these players and get them to win, and win consistently. And that is what he did.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former Hoops boss still can’t get over what happened on THAT night in Seville back in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,13881,568,8528,92564,3636,92565,561,82,22716],"class_list":["post-183685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celtic-fc","tag-champions-league","tag-europa-league","tag-henrik-larsson","tag-jose-mourinho","tag-martin-oneill","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-uefa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_JS382952913.jpg\")
Benfica’s Portuguese head coach Jose Mourinho runs on to the pitch to retrieve loose ball during the UEFA Champions League, league phase football match between Chelsea and Benfica at Stamford Bridge in London on September 30, 2025. (Photo by Adrian Dennis \/ AFP) (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n