Former Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar has revealed an amusing anecdote about the Nerazzurri’s Serie A title celebrations in 2009.
Inter were confirmed as league champions for the fourth season running on May 16, when AC Milan lost 2-1 at Udinese.
Jose Mourinho’s side were due to face Siena at San Siro the following day, and, as Cesare recalled on Thursday, it seems the Portuguese boss was taking the match far more seriously than any of his players.
“We had spent a long season playing games, training, travelling, staying in hotels and missing our families,” the former Brazil international began in an interview with The Players Tribune.
“Now we were finally champions.
“So, you know, we had plans to go and celebrate like mad.
“That’s what champions do, right?
“But our coach was the one and only José Mourinho.
“And, well, let’s just say that The Special One had a very different plan in mind!
“We were in a hotel in Milan on a Saturday, preparing to play Siena on Sunday.
“We knew that if AC Milan lost to Udinese that night, we would be champions.
“So we were all watching the game together and when AC Milan lost, we went crazy.
“We have a place called the Piazza del Duomo, which is the main square of Milan.
“This is where Inter celebrate their titles with the fans but when I spoke to Javier Zanetti, our captain, and some of the other players, they said that Mourinho didn’t want us to go there.
“Mourinho wanted us to rest before the Siena game.
“It didn’t make sense!
“We had won the title.
“We had no other competitions left to play.
“Then I realised that Mourinho wanted to break the record for the number of wins in a Serie A season, or something like that.
“It was a milestone that would make him look good.
“So I got really mad and I told Zanetti: ‘We have to go to the Piazza, we deserve it.’
“Just then Mourinho walked past and shouted: ‘Júlio César, why don’t you go there by yourself?’
“I shouted back: ‘Everyone wants to go, they’re just afraid to tell you, but I’m not.’
“Mourinho kept walking towards his room.
“I wasn’t going to just accept this, so I went after him.
“When he went into his room, I followed him.
“He lay down on the bed and I told him: ‘Look, if you don’t go to the Piazza, you will never win a league title again.’
“Suddenly Mourinho got up and began swearing at me.
“He was calling me every name under the sun.
“I’m not sure, but I think he might have taken what I said seriously.
“In either case, two buses soon arrived to take us to the Piazza del Duomo.
“Moments later we were in the square singing and celebrating with the fans.
“At one point, I was pretty drunk, I grabbed Mourinho by the neck and said: ‘So you really wanted to stay at the hotel?! Look at this! This is for you!’
“He just began to laugh.
“By the time we got back to the hotel, it was 5 a.m.
“We went straight to bed.
“And then the next day we beat Siena 3-0.”
Cesar joined Inter in 2005 from Chievo Verona and enjoyed a hugely successful spell with the Nerazzurri.
During his time at the club, he won five Serie A titles, three Coppa Italia titles, four Supercoppa Italian titles, one UEFA Champions League title and one FIFA Club World Cup title.
In 2012, Cesar moved to Premier League club Queens Park Rangers after Inter asked him to take a wage cut, as he explained in another part of his interview.
He announced his retirement in 2018 and played his final career match with Flamengo on 22 April in that year.