John Terry: 🗣”One day, I remember well, in the last 10 minutes of the match, we were leading by just one goal and facing immense pressure. At that moment, he called me over and said.”
“You have to clear the ball far away, and then you and Cahill should both fall to the ground. This way, the referee cannot force you to leave the pitch for treatment—he is not allowed to take two players off at the same time.”
“None of us were aware of such a rule.”
Even the referee himself came to us, telling us that we had to leave the pitch for a few seconds. But we created a small argument with him, and I told him to check with the assistant referee because he was wrong. Indeed, the referee consulted his assistant and realized that he could not force us off the pitch because the rule states that when two players from the same team are down at the same time, they are not required to leave. As a result, both of us stayed on the field, catching our breath again.
“That’s Mourinho for you. He had tricks we weren’t even aware of. He knew how to outsmart his opponent—even through the rules. I think he was ahead of the others by miles. He is a mastermind.”
— Chelsea defender John Terry.
