Ruben Amorim decided to cut short his education, skipping his exams to become a footballer whilst his wife was able to obtain a degree and continued to mock her husband for his decision
Ruben Amorim admits that his wife constantly rubs her degree in his face after he failed to take his exams, instead choosing to pursue his career in football.
The Portuguese boss has shown himself to be a shrewd manager following a successful career as a player. His exploits with Sporting Lisbon, where he won two league titles, put him firmly on the radar of Europe’s top clubs and Manchester United moved to bring him in just weeks ago.
Amorim is preparing for his first match in charge this weekend at Ipswich Town. His route to Old Trafford though began as a teenager in his homeland, when he signed his first professional deal as a teenager.
He penned a deal with Lisbon side Belenenses having previously been released by Benfica. Football’s place in Amorim’s life meant he was unable to complete his school exams – something he still regrets – with his wife, Maria Joao Diogo, still teasing him about it.
The new United boss told Portuguese paper Expresso: “I had an agreement with my mother. I would continue at school until I signed a professional contract. I signed when I was 17. Today, I regret it a lot. If I’d taken my exams, I could have done the 12th year. I could also have entered a top college.
“My wife is an electrotechnical engineer and she throws that in my face every day.”
Amorim did end up landing himself some form of qualification however. He studied for a masters’ degree in high-performance football coaching at the University of Lisbon, which eventually saw him undertake a week-long internship in Manchester with Jose Mourinho.
The Special One remains the most successful Portuguese coach of all-time and during his time in Manchester took Amorim under his wing. Now the 39-year-old has followed in Mourinho’s footsteps and will lead the Red Devils as he looks to bring success back to Old Trafford.
Before he moved to Manchester Amorim though was keen to make clear that he didn’t want to be a Mourinho 2.0. He said: “The new Mourinho? There will never be a new Mourinho. Mourinho is one of a kind. He’s already texted me: ‘The old and the new [Mourinho] are still in, I’ll see you in the next stage!’ But there won’t be another Mourinho… The new Mourinho I won’t be, but I’m happy to carry on at Sporting’s project.”
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