Rui Faria

Rui Filipe da Cunha Faria (born 14 June 1975 in Balugães, Barcelos, Portugal), better known as Rui Faria, is a Portuguese football coach, known for his career long association with football manager José Mourinho.

Biography

Early life

Faria was born in Balugães, a tiny parish of Barcelos in Portugal. Like Mourinho, he was a physical education graduate who had not played football at a high level. Faria's education took him to a seminar day at the Camp Nou, Barcelona's home stadium, where Mourinho was working as assistant manager to Louis van Gaal. Mourinho saw a kindred spirit in Faria, and when he took the U.D. Leiria job in April 2001 he hired Faria as an assistant and fitness coach.

Coaching career

Faria's early time at Leiria, emblematic of Mourinho's new fitness regime, led to a stand-off with the club's directors. Since then, the two have been inseparable, with Faria joining Porto in January 2002, Mourinho's first month in charge of his new club. He was part of the club's staff for their 2003 league, cup and UEFA Cup treble and won the UEFA Champions League in 2004 with the club. Faria followed Mourinho to Chelsea that summer along with assistant manager Baltemar Brito, chief scout André Villas-Boas and goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro. He became ubiquitous in his Chelsea tracksuit on the London side's bench.