Wesley Sneijder's confession about Mourinho

Former Dutch footballer Wesley Sneijder spoke to Spanish newspaper Marca. Some highlights from Sneijder's comments are as follows:

Real Madrid

"I performed incredibly well in my first year, then I had some personal problems that made my second season difficult. If that hadn't happened, I might still be there... Not now, I'm too old. But perhaps I would have played longer than I expected because I didn't want to leave Real Madrid. If Real Madrid is there, no one wants to leave. But the timing was wrong. I wasn't in the right mental state. Great players like Kaká, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Cristiano Ronaldo came in, and some other players had to make way, and I was one of them. Arjen Robben was another. On the other hand, everything happens for a reason. A year later, I returned to the same stadium to play in the Champions League final with Inter Milan. Perhaps if I had stayed at Real Madrid, I would have won many more Champions League titles, and everything could have been different. I didn't like leaving the club, but ultimately, I believe everything happens for a reason."

2010 Spain Netherlands World Cup Final

"I think what we achieved was already a huge thing. Playing in the World Cup final against Spain that year was incredible. It was a very balanced match. We could have won, but unfortunately they did. It was the greatest achievement for us. Looking at how we started the match, I would start the same way today, without making any changes. If Robben had scored against Casillas one-on-one, the match would have ended 1-0. In matches like this, you need a bit of luck too."

'Kylian Mbappé will win the Ballon d'Or'

"The Ballon d'Or is now judged differently. The entire season is taken into account. In my day, the question was simply who was the best player in the world. It was quite common for Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi to win. Nowadays, the season and achievements are more valuable, and in my opinion, this makes much more sense. This way, other players have a higher chance of winning. With the current scoring system, I am 100% certain that Mbappé will win next season. Furthermore, he has now become a true striker, performing better than he did on the wing, and Real Madrid does not need a player like Haaland. Vini may also win next year. Both have the quality required for this."

'Mourinho was like a father to me' 

"He was like a father to me. The way he convinced me to come to Inter and sign a contract with them was very special. I didn't want to say “a special person” because it's easy to say that. He called himself “a special person” and he definitely was, but he was a real father figure and I'll tell you why. After six months of that 2010 season, one Monday morning he called me into his office. We had a match that weekend, and he asked, “Wes, how are you?” I told him I felt fine, coach. I was excited. We kept winning matches. But Mourinho said, “No, I can see you're a bit tired.” I said, “No, coach. I'm fine.” 'No, no, no, no, no. Go see your son.' My son was living in Holland. I told him I didn't want to go because I wanted to play that weekend. 'No, I'm telling you to go and come back on Thursday evening. Friday? You'll train.“ I said, 'We have a match on Saturday.” I told him that meant I could only train once on Friday. “Absolutely,” he said."

"So I went to Holland and at that moment I felt like he was my father. He wanted me to come and see my son, spend time with him and come back. And you know what, on Thursday evening I was on the plane and I was thinking, 'Blimey, what he did for me.' I don't know if another coach would have done the same for me, but I had to repay him on Saturday, and that's what I did. He played a fatherly role not just towards me, but towards all the players."

'Football has changed a lot'

"The number 10 role is now a thing of the past. I used to be a true number 10. That's no longer the case. What matters now are physically strong midfielders. Everyone is training to be a versatile midfielder. I wasn't trained to be a versatile midfielder. I was a midfielder and my job was to assist the forwards, not to cover the whole pitch, so the attacking midfielder role no longer exists for me. I don't think there's a team in Europe that plays with a true attacking midfielder. Perhaps we see a number 10 in international football, but now many managers prefer to play with a defensive midfielder and two number 10 positions. It's very different."