Diego Costa Was Back On Monday at 9am – Jose Mourinho On Lack of Power Over Striker’s Spain Duty

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Friday, 17th October, 2014



Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has claimed that he was powerless to stop Spain from playing Diego Costa on Sunday.

Costa scored his first goal for Spain in their 4-0 win over Luxembourg on Sunday, but Mourinho said that the striker is a doubt for Chelsea’s weekend’s clash against Crystal Palace.

The 26-year-old has been suffering with a hamstring problem since the end of last season and though he is the league’s top scorer in this campaign, the striker has failed to shake off his injury problems.

Mourinho said that he gave Costa extra two days off to recover from his international exertions, but the Spaniard reported to training on Monday, which did please the Portuguese.
 

“Spain played on Sunday so I gave Costa, [Cesar] Azpilicueta and [Cesc] Fabregas two days off, so they should have reported to training on Wednesday”, the Chelsea manager said in a press conference.

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“But Costa was here on Monday at 9am. So you can imagine how strong he was to be here Monday at 9am. Was he here for treatment? No comment.”

Mourinho also revealed that he didn’t contact the Spanish FA on Costa’s injury concerns as he believes that he was in no position to stop Spain from playing the striker. He also added that he never speaks to national team managers regarding his players if they don’t take the initiative of contacting him.

“No, I didn’t speak to the Spanish Federation [on Costa].

“I am always open to speaking with them but it not my initiative to contact them. They have the power but I don’t.”

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