Jose Mourinho wanted to sell me after the birthday party, but I gave him the iconic Old Trafford moment

Jose Mourinho's iconic sprint down the Old Trafford touchline was the climax of a bizarre psychological masterplan, according to former FC Porto star Costinha.

The Special One's stock was on the rise during the 2003/04 campaign, having guided the Portuguese giants to UEFA Cup glory the previous year.

The relatively unknown coach was quickly becoming a household name across Europe and had his sights set on club football's biggest prize.

Achieving such a feat with a Portuguese club in the era of financial dominance in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A was like returning to the good old days of the European Cup.

Mourinho's vision to dream big transcended throughout the legendary Portuguese club, producing incredible success that few expected.

But the heroism was not without its moments of conflict, as Costinha discovered all too well after a birthday night out with his teammates.

“My birthday is on December 1st and as I always do, I invited all the FC Porto players to dinner on my birthday,” Costinha recalled.

“We played against Marítimo, I think it was four days before. Dinner was on Tuesday or Wednesday and our next game was on Sunday.

“Dinner was over and I said, 'Well, I have some childhood friends coming from Lisbon, I'm going to have a drink with them.'

“I'm leaving, but I'm going to say it with all frankness, I'm not going to hide it, tomorrow I'm going to train and on Sunday I'm going to play and I want to win.

“There is no need for anyone to come and I am not going to invite any of you because I don’t want anyone pointing fingers at me because one of you is caught.”

“At FC Porto there was no point in hiding anything, they knew everything.

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“Whoever thought they could do things without the club's knowledge was wrong.

“The team said, 'No Costa, it's okay, we're going with you,' so we all went out.

“We went out and each one took responsibility. Then we played against Marítimo. We drew and at half-time I remembered Mourinho’s words and the changes he made.

“He took off Benni (McCarthy) and Maniche and I said that something strange was going to happen here. At the end of the match Mourinho didn't say anything.

“Two days later, when I arrived early to training with Jorge Costa, I looked around and saw the club president’s car. When the president parked at the training centre it was because something was not right.

“We were sitting in the dressing room and Jorge Costa said: ‘Mourinho comes here to talk’. Mourinho rarely went into the dressing room at the training ground, he used to say it was the players’ sanctuary.

“Mourinho comes in and says 'you' while pointing at me. You are responsible for the draw against Marítimo, you took the players off on your birthday.

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“You just have to know that if we don't win the Portuguese league and the Champions League, it will be your fault. And I've already told the president that I want you to go, I don't want you here in January.

“He gave me such a lecture that I took off my team, I didn't want to train.”

The dispute with Mourinho came before a Champions League clash with real Madrid with Porto already qualified for the round of 16.

Costinha had a yellow card and risked missing the first leg of the round of 16. He also knew that any decision not to train would risk players rebelling against him, something he wanted to avoid.

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“It showed the team spirit we had,” he added. “They said, 'If you don't train, we don't train either.'

“I told them they had to train. I was between a rock and a hard place, so I got dressed and trained.”

Mourinho continued his criticism of Costinha by saying: “You are going to play in Madrid and if they give you a yellow card, I don't care because you won't be here in January.

“I don’t give a shit, your life here in Porto is over.”

Things took a strange turn during that morning's training session, leaving Costinha dazed and confused.

Later that day, a post-session confrontation in the car park occurred, which changed his relationship with Mourinho forever.

“Throughout training he kept telling me, ‘Good job Costa, Costa is here,’ as if nothing had happened. I thought he was making fun of me.”

“After training, as I was about to leave, Mourinho stood in front of me and blocked my car before telling me 'see you tomorrow, Costa'.

“I was angry and from then on our relationship became very formal. I no longer spoke to him like before and I no longer joked with him.

“I played in Madrid, I received a yellow card and after the game he came, hugged me and said: 'I knew I could count on you'.

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“I thought, 'This guy is crazy.'”

Porto's reward for qualifying from their Champions League group was an easy draw against the Premier League champions. Manchester United.

United had lifted the trophy five years earlier and were determined to win another in the final in Gelsenkirchen.

Costinha was preparing to leave the club with no expectations of facing Sir Alex Ferguson's side in the intriguing double-header.

However, Mourinho had other plans up his sleeve and threw another curveball at the midfielder.

“We came back in January after the winter break and I played the first match against Rio Ave,” Costinha said.

“Mourinho comes to me and says: Have you seen the Champions League draw? Incredible. First we play against Manchester United at home, but you can't play because you're suspended.

“Maybe we win 1-0 or 2-1 and then in the second game you will be available. Then he gets up and leaves.

“I stood there looking at him and thinking, 'Wasn't I supposed to leave the club?'

Mourinho's prediction came true as Porto claimed a 2-1 first-leg win over the Red Devils thanks to a McCarthy brace.

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The script produced its fairy-tale moment for Costinha, who had been suffering since that night in December 2004.

And it was fitting that he headed in a last-gasp equaliser at Old Trafford to send the Portuguese side into the quarter-finals at United's expense, prompting Mourinho to race down the touchline to join in the celebrations.

Porto won the Champions League, defeating Monaco 3-0 in the final, as well as sweeping the UEFA Super Cup, the Portuguese Cup and the national title.

In the end, Costinha was not blamed, but on reflection, the midfielder understood why Mourinho took such a firm stance with him.

“I'm mentally strong and he knew he could say these kinds of things to me and others would see it,” she said.

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“Other people would think: 'if he can do this to Costa, I don't know what he would do to us'.

“I wanted to send a strong message and it really worked.”