Futre proud of Mourinho friendship

Atletico Madrid legend Paulo Futre has commended good friend and Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for his sportsmanship.

Real triumphed 2-0 in the Madrid derby between the two Spanish capital clubs, and Mourinho jumped to the defence of counterpart Diego Simeone, who was the subject of harsh words from fans.

Futre believes Mourinho’s actions were noble and spoke of his pride of being friends with the former Inter coach.

“Everyone knows I was desperate to see Atleti beat Real on Saturday, but it wasn’t to be,” Futre wrote in his column in Marca.

“A few days after the game, no longer seething about the defeat and joking apart, I feel even more proud to be Mourinho’s friend.

“Particularly after the gesture he made for our brilliant (Diego) ‘Cholo’ Simeone. Only great champions like Mourinho could do that, silencing the public in defence of a colleague from a rival team.

“No-one in Spanish football has ever made such a gesture or had the courage to call for thousands of people to stop because they are showing a lack of respect to the manager of the opposing team.”