fic: a beautiful friendship (football rpf)

[meretricula]

title: a beautiful friendship
fandom: football rpf
pairing: Jose Mourinho/Pep Guardiola (ish. but mostly gen.)
rating: G
word count: 1000
summary: A quiet phonecall between two family men.
notes: man, if you asked me to explain this, I don't think I could. very, very loosely inspired by the knowledge that Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho used to get together with some friends and talk football way back in the day, and my own speculation that in spite of all their personal differences they probably understand each other better than almost anyone else. they get painted as extremes in the media, but at the end of the day they're both husbands and fathers who don't get much time to spend with their families.



a beautiful friendship

"You know," Pep said, sounding oddly reflective, "I really miss you sometimes."

"I'd say I'm flattered, but I doubt you meant it as a compliment."

"Well, it's strange, don't you think? You'd think I'd miss Luis, or Johan, or - I don't know, Michael. Zubi before I got him back, maybe. And I did, you know, I do, but most of the time it's you. I don't know why."

"Maybe I had one of the physios hypnotize you into it. You were in their offices enough, nobody would have noticed."

Pep laughed. "Jose, not even you think that far ahead. Though I know you'd love for me to believe you can. No, I think… oh, I don't know what I think. After you went back to Portugal, and then when I was in Italy, I kept wanting to call you and talk tactics. That's not so strange. Or my classes, when I was in Mexico, I'd learn something and want to know what you thought about it."

"If you want me to critique what you're planning for two weeks from now, I'd be happy to go over your notes with you," Jose said dryly.

"That's all right," Pep said, and Jose could hear his smile in his voice. "I did learn how to handle things on my own. Good thing, or you wouldn't respect me much."

"I've always respected you. Even if you are a bit of an idiot about things sometimes." Jose leaned back in his chair, letting the day-old tension in his shoulders drain away. He didn't think he needed it now. "And a lucky idiot at that - what would you miss me for now? I'm right here. Closer than you'd like, I think."

Pep made a humming noise, then adjusted his handset so that Jose could only barely make out a muffled, "In a minute, sweetheart, Daddy's on the phone." There was a rustling noise, then he continued, "Sorry about that."

"No, no, no problem. Bedtime is bedtime."

"Well, I was the one who called you, so I'm still sorry. Do you need to tuck anyone in?"

"Not yet. They're a bit older than yours, you know."

"Mmm. I haven't seen them in a long time. I suppose I forget that they keep growing when you're not watching."

"That's more often than I like." There was a brief, companionable silence, which Jose finally felt impelled to break. "So what's on your mind, that you had to call up your great rival to discuss?"

"What great rival?" Pep mocked, though he sounded more amused than scornful. "You certainly haven't gotten any more modest since they ran you out of Italy. No, no, I'm sorry, that was unkind of me, and unfair. Forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive," Jose said, because there wasn't. He wasn't so weak that careless or even malicious words could hurt him - not from Pep, not from some idiot Italian journalist. And anyway, it was half-true: he'd certainly never prided himself on humility.

"Ah, well. I suppose I happened to be in a bit of a nostalgic mood today. Even if it hadn't been down to you or me, I wouldn't have wanted you here," Pep said, too easily to have meant any cruelty by it. He was good at many things, and brilliant at others, but he was an amazingly awful liar. "You've always had the most extraordinary gift for finding beautiful things and breaking them to make them work better. They would have won for you but they wouldn't have been Barcelona."

"And you've always been a hopeless idealist," Jose said, unoffended.

"Well, someone has to be. And I suppose this is the closest you'll ever be to me again, but I still can't like where you are."

"It isn't where I am, I think, it's what I am. Or maybe who. I'm not Luis, you know."

"You'd never be that stupid," Pep snorted. "Or so pointlessly proud. No, I know who you are. And you know who I am. Better than anyone else ever has, at least. That might be what I miss the most, in the end."

Jose let the silence drag on longer this time, while he worked out what he wanted to say. It wasn't often that anyone surprised him, but he wasn't about to let that force him into a misstep. "Bring Cristina with you, the next time you're in Madrid," he said abruptly. "Tami gets sick of hearing nothing but football, football, all the time." Pep made a small, startled noise, and Jose smiled. "We can talk about the Bundesliga and Eredivisie without any problems, I think. As a purely theoretical exercise, of course. And Zuca and Mathilde should know what you look like from something other than television, at least."

"I… would like that very much," Pep said slowly. "And - not the next time you're in Barcelona, I think. But if you find yourself there for other reasons, I would like you to see my family as well." Jose heard a girl's voice, quiet and indistinct, at Pep's end of the line, and Pep's reply. He didn't bother trying to cover the mouthpiece this time, but he was speaking in Catalan. Jose had learned to understand and even speak the language during his time in Barcelona, but he hadn't had much opportunity to use it since he'd left. "I have to go, I'm afraid, but I'll see you in a few weeks. May the best man win, I suppose?"

"The best team," Jose corrected. "It isn't about us, after all." Pep was still laughing as he hung up. Jose made a mental note to call Luis sometime soon, then put the phone away and went to see how Mathilde and Zuca were getting along with their homework. Tami managed it all perfectly well when he wasn't home, of course, but since he was home, he thought he would like to spend some time with his children.

notes:

1. Jose Mourinho worked on the coaching staff at Barcelona from 1996 to 2000, and thus was well-acquainted with Pep Guardiola and Luis Figo, among others. He started out as a translator for Bobby Robson and worked his way up to assistant manager before leaving Barcelona to become head coach of the Portuguese club Benfica.

2. Luis is Luis Figo, former Barcelona player. Johan is Johan Cruyff, former Barcelona player and coach. Michael is Michael Laudrup, former Barcelona player. Zubi is Andoni Zubizarreta, former Barcelona player and member of the current management staff.

3. Mourinho, Guardiola and Figo apparently participated in an informal football discussion club with Laurent Blanc and Gica Popescu while they were all at Barcelona.

4. Luis Figo's transfer from Barcelona to arch-rivals Real Madrid in 2000 was the source of great controversy. Guardiola and Figo had been close friends before Figo's move.

5. Before Guardiola was given the job of first-team coach of Barcelona in 2008, Jose Mourinho was the primary candidate for the position. Mourinho himself has stated that Guardiola was the right choice for the job.

6. Both Guardiola and Mourinho keep their families out of the public eye, so not much is known about them. Guardiola and his partner Cristina have two daughters and a son. Mourinho and his wife Mathilde (Tami) have a daughter named Mathilde and a son named Jose (Zuca).

7. Guardiola and Mourinho are (obviously) the current coaches of Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively, and will face off in Barcelona for the first Clasico of the season on November 29, 2010.

8. As always, if you want to know more about Barcelona than you can find out from these footnotes, this post is here to help. And if you have any other questions, please ask! I'm always happy to talk about my club.

9. Title and cut-text are quotes from the movie Casablanca.

Comments

[mardia.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is lovely. I'll admit to getting a ton of amusement out of Mourinho's antics, but he's not a cartoon character much as he does appear to have been practically made for macros and gifs. And okay, I vaguely remember the story, but I'm still fuzzy on the details--how on earth did Guardiola get the job at Barca over Jose? Am I right in thinking it had something to do with Laporta?

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

thank you! I love Mourinho in all of his ridiculous glory, but I was also really struck by this article (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1175106/index.htm) by Sid Lowe - there's no way that he's actually as much of a mastermind as we all think he is. (but oh, the macros. and the gifs.)

I don't have an article to hand, but I know there's a story about Pep telling Laporta, at the beginning of the year when he was coaching Barça B, that he wanted the first team job "but you don't have the balls to give it to me". and in the end it was Laporta who pushed to appoint Pep, which was a staggeringly unpopular decision at the time. (hard to believe! in retrospect Laporta looks like a genius.) the vast majority of the fans wanted Mourinho. you have to wonder how much it was a cash issue, though - Mourinho is REALLY REALLY EXPENSIVE. and Guardiola had no experience at all at the time, so he was presumably dirt-cheap. I don't know how much he makes now but it's probably still peanuts compared to Mou.

[mardia.livejournal.com]

The macros and the gifs are, quite frankly--AWESOME. And man, Laporta does look like a genius in retrospect, jeez. It's easy to say now, but it is impossible for me to imagine anyone but Pep coaching Barca, but especially Mourinho. Speaking of Mourinho, have you ever seen Special 1 TV?

[tabacoychanel.livejournal.com]

"Great rival!" Pep said, laughing. "You certainly haven't gotten any more modest since they ran you out of Italy.
:D



"And you've always been a hopeless idealist," Jose said, unoffended.

"Well, someone has to be. And I suppose this is the closest you'll ever be to me again, but I still can't like where you are."

"It isn't where I am, I think, it's what I am. Or maybe who. I'm not Luis, you know."

"You'd never be that stupid," Pep snorted. "Or so pointlessly proud. No, I know who you are. And you know who I am. Better than anyone else ever has, at least. That might be what I miss the most, in the end."

i just. ok. that was so appropriate. i like how pragmatic jose is, how matter-of-fact he is about correcting pep, it's not about us it's about the team. and football as a theoretical exercise omg pep would never say something like that.

i've been meaning to ask you this all day but idk i forgot: how is pep a silver fox if he doesn't have any hair?? this is a very important question. personally i think he is still this side of being an 'older' man.

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

:DDD I am glad you read it because nobody else will, haha. and oh, why do I even ship this, I'm such a loon. (though looooool the bit about Jose saying "it isn't us, it's the team" is him teasing Pep, he totally does think it's about him vs Pep but Pep is always the one insisting that the manager isn't all that important. which Jose naturally thinks is bullshit. XD he is the Special One, of course he is the most important!)

that is an excellent question! Idk, I guess I use the term "silver fox" by metonymy to mean any sexy older gentleman? I mean, Pep is what, almost forty now, he's a bit old for me. THOUGH I WOULD STILL HIT IT LIKE THE FIST OF AN ANGRY GOD, DON'T GET ME WRONG. and while he has very little hair, it's true, his stubble is going gray!

[louis-quatorze.livejournal.com]

Oh, Jose. And Pep.

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

I know, right? favorite silver foxes in the world.

[totally-loca.livejournal.com]

This is gorgeous, all mellow and soft and comfortable. They're so beautiful together, just the right shade of nostalgia and almost resignation to where life has taken them. It's like you've captured that very real human feeling of being happy with where you are and what you're doing but still wishing you could change things and put it into words on both sides. Shiny.

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

this comment makes me feel like I did something right as a writer. ♥ thank you very much!

[lisachanoando.livejournal.com]

I just loved this so much. I've always loved the relationship between those two, and as long as I always tend to see slash in it (though I rarely see love between those two, at least of the romantic type, while I'm more prone to see friendship), this story satisfied me exactly as it was, adult and sweet and so well-written. You described their relationship very well and I liked it a lot. :)

(Commento partecipante a Recensioni d'Autunno 2 - La Vendemmia @ maridichallenge) <- Don't mind this, I'm Italian and I'm taking part in a challenge that counts how many comments we can make in one month :) I have to insert this on every comment I write so the mods know I make it for the challenge XD Sorry.

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

thank you! I have such a soft spot for the two of them; I'm glad to find out that other people appreciate them too!

non c'é problema. :) all comments are very welcome!

[ladyrocketdale.livejournal.com]

this is beautiful, i love the whole conversation and everything that each of them was doing meanwhile, it was very well told and made reading more enjoyable.
perfect, awesome work :)

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

[eileenyx.livejournal.com]

Aw. I really like the contrast between Pep's wistfulness and Mou's practicality (that I read as a kind of guardedness, IDEK), as well as their ease/straightforwardness with each other (with this wonderful exception: It wasn't often that anyone surprised him, but he wasn't about to let that force him into a misstep.).

This is my favourite: "You've always had the most extraordinary gift for finding beautiful things and breaking them to make them work better. They would have won for you but they wouldn't have been Barcelona."

And: "The best team," Jose corrected. "It isn't about us, after all." Pep was still laughing as he hung up.
Haha, Pep's got your number, Mou.

I learned so much from your footnotes, which makes this whole thing super awesome. :D

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

thank you very much for such a lovely comment! you picked out some of my favorite lines, which always makes me feel like I did an okay job after all. :)

my love affair with footnotes is kind of creepy, haha. but they're so much fun!

[blood-red-wolf.livejournal.com]

AWWWW AWWW This was so perfect, exactly what I've been looking for. Stunning :)

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

hee, thank you! I'm glad you liked it. :)

[hey-larry.livejournal.com]

One of the nicer fics I've read in a long time! Oh how I miss gen fics. I love these two to death, they've always seemed like good friends to me despite coaching different teams. :D

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

thank you very much! they are my absolute favorite silver foxes. :) (if you want more gen, allow me to poke you towards stickmarionette and applefic - you won't regret it!)

[oldwilkie.livejournal.com]

Sorry, lurking here after finding your narnia fics in delicious. But I'm not a creepy stalker (at least, I don't think so xD), I just wanted to say this fic is wonderful. It's really well written and I think you nailed their voices. I'm a truly believer of the Moudiola OTP, and this fics says why: they fit. Simple as that.
Than you again for this amazing fic.

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

oh, thank you very much! it's always really nice to get a comment on a fic - especially if it's from a stranger, actually, so never worry about being stalkery when commenting! everybody likes comments. :) and it's doubly nice to hear from someone with more than one fandom in common with you! football and Narnia are a pretty rare combination, haha. ahhhh Pep/Mou OTP, they are so epic. I don't know why more people don't write them.

[izuzumi.livejournal.com]

One friend of myself recomended this one a time ago, but just now I had a time to read it, and I really enjoy it!

Acuttally I'm having fun looking into your fic archive, I try to read one everytime I have free time or want to read something. You have such good fics! :)

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

thank you very much! I'm glad you (and your friend) liked it. :)

[loozy.livejournal.com]

Great piece. I respect both coaches, even if one is more insane than the other and I can see them getting along really well. This fic just put those thoughts to life :)

Thanks a million for writing and sharing this, even if I am a bit late to the party :D

[meretricula.livejournal.com]

my feelings about Mourinho definitely, uh, evolved over the course of the season during which this was written... but yeah, respect. we'll leave it at that. XD I'm glad you liked the story, and you're never too late to this party!