One minute, Jose Peseiro was coach of CD Nacional, a small club based on the island of Madeira with a stadium holding just over 5,000 fans.
After turning to coaching after an unspectacular playing career, the then-42 year old guided Nacional into the Portuguese top flight and to the best finish in their history, edging Braga to fourth in the 2002/03 season.
The next thing he knew, he was called up by his mentor, Carlos Queiroz, to trade the Alvinegros for the Galacticos and become assistant manager of Real Madrid ’s star-studded side. Having never really rubbed shoulders with football’s very best, Peseiro was suddenly taking training with the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and new summer signing David Beckham.
“It was amazing,” Peseiro recalls. “42 years old and I started coaching with Real Madrid.
“I started in the second league in Portugal with CD Nacional, we went up to the first league and I did a very good job with this team, so Queiroz, who was my teacher, invited me to go with him.
“Until then I had never been close to big players. I had played but not in the top league, but I remember when I started at Real Madrid it was some type of shock.
“It was a shock the first day, but after that it was amazing. I was with top players, and when I speak about Ronaldo, Zidane, Beckham, Raul, Roberto Carlos, Casillas, Figo, Guti, you can’t imagine training with these guys.”
After overcoming the initial shock of being in charge of football royalty, it was soon business as usual for Peseiro. He quickly learnt that those elite players had something special both technically and mentally which separated them from the rest.
He tells one story of Beckham, a marquee signing from Manchester United that summer in the peak of his powers and his ability to seamlessly adapt to playing a number of roles. Despite his star power, he did the job with little fuss and churned out remarkable statistics for his effort.
“Every day, they’d stay on the pitch or in the meetings, and I learnt a lot with them,” he says. “Because for players at that level, they had the capacity to show us things that are not normal in other players.
“It was a fantastic moment for me, I learnt a lot and these were smart, intelligent guys. I remember Beckham, he was an incredible guy.
“I remember if Queiroz wanted him to play in midfield like a six, he would play like a six. He wanted him as an eight, he would play like an eight. He wanted him to be a winger, he would play like a winger.
“The people would think, surely these guys, with a big ego, they would not accept everything we want to implement with them. But I remember Beckham, in that moment, running 14km one match, more than any of the others, with the maximum commitment.”
Managing the Galacticos - the most expensive group of players ever assembled at the time - understandably brought pressure, not only to win but to put on a show. Ultimately, Quieroz lasted just one season in charge after their season came crumbling down in the closing stages.
But, for the most part, Peseiro was able to watch on in pure enjoyment at the show his players put on without the pressure of being the main man in the dugout.
“In that moment, everyone knows that we needed to win but also show fantastic football. It was the first time I was in the bench as assistant coach, and you could enjoy the game on the bench.
“Sometimes as the head coach, you cannot enjoy the game because you are fighting for the win, the pressure and the stress, but in that moment, in 80% of the matches, I stayed in the bench and enjoyed the game, watching these great players play.”
In a dressing room containing multiple players considered amongst the very best of their generation, Peseiro finds it impossible to pick out the best. Three, however, stood out as a level above on the training ground - Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo.
“It’s not easy, but I can say from training, the players (who were the best) were Ronaldo, Zidane and Figo,” he says. “Picking one is difficult, to choose the best three is also difficult, but I can say those three were incredible.
“Overall, Ronaldo, Zidane and Figo showed the best, but then Roberto Carlos was amazing in the shooting drills and running. Raul, the striker, his quality was amazing. Casillas would make unbelievable saves. Beckham, Guti, could do amazing things. There were five, six, seven, eight, nine players at an amazing level.
“But if I need to pick three, Zidane, Figo and Ronaldo, in any order. They were special players to work with.”
