Cote D’Ivoire coach Sabri Lamouchi attends Real Madrid training session

Nov 6, 2012 3:21:00 AM

The Elephants coach paid a visit to the Los Merengues’ training ground to watch Jose Mourinho and his men tune up ahead of their Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund

Cote D’Ivoire coach Frenchman Sabri Lamouchi was given the opportunity to watch Real Madrid’s training session on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League match against German giant Borussia Dortmund at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

The former Inter Milan midfielder, who played alongside Zinedine Zidane in the France national team, travelled to Spain to see how Jose Mourinho does his job and why he remains the Special One.

Lamouchi took his first coaching job at the helm of the Ivorian national team last May and has shown some encouraging signs after defeating Senegal in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying and holding Morocco and Russia to a draw in friendlies. However, local critics say the fledgling coach lacks the required experience to lead the 2012 Afcon finalists to a major competition, hence his ongoing quest for a wider exposure.

“It is an honour and a great privilege to attend a training session of the best coach in the world of the best team in the world. It is an extraordinary experience that will help me improve as a coach. It is also a privilege for my coaching staff for the Ivory Coast national team, which in Africa is an important team, and I hope that this experience will serve to help us do a good job there,” he said after the session.

He praised the 2010 Fifa World Coach of the Year for his charisma and ability to pay attention to all the details while coaching.

“Mourinho is a coach with a lot of charisma and a tremendous amount of experience. Wherever he has gone, he has won it all. He pays attention to all of the details and he transmits all of his strength and commitment to the group in order to produce great teams,” Lamouchi said, however, it is hard to weigh how much of the one-day tutorial the 40-year-old former Parma player will take home and apply to his side during their opener against Togo at the South Africa 2013 and subsequent clashes against Algeria and Tunisia in Group D.