Jose Mourinho showed a mystic side prior to Inter Milan's 2010 Champions League final win, with Wesley Sneijder telling an incredible story about the Portuguese manager's perfect prediction two weeks before.
Inter claimed a historic treble with a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu, courtesy of a brace from Diego Milito.
They beat Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona side 3-2 on aggregate over two legs in the semi-finals after being paired against the reigning champions.
But Mourinho, who had already won the prize with Porto in 2004, completely manifested the Nerazzurri's triumph.
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As revealed by Sneijder, a key member of that Inter side, Mourinho had handed an envelope to defender Marco Materazzi two weeks before the showpiece.
However, he instructed him not to open it until after the final. Written inside was the result, complete with scoreline - highlighting Mourinho's genius.
"He called Materazzi in his office, like two weeks before the game," Sneijder a FedEx Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League, told SPORTbible in an exclusive interview.
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"And he wrote something on the paper, he put it in an envelope, and he gave it to him. And he said, like, open it after the game in the dressing room after the final. So that's what he did.
"The score was there - 2-0. He is so intelligent because he knew exactly what to do this in this game.
"Obviously you need to be lucky as well to put 2-0 for me, it's not a surprise because he knew everything.
"Also the semi final, when we faced Barcelona, the first game at home, we as players were thinking like, 'okay, it's not a shame if we lose against Barcelona'.
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"But the way when we started the meeting and the way he was talking, we start to believe that we can win this game and, and the next day, we we were losing one nil, but we still keep on doing the things what he said and it became a very easy match for us. So things really worked out."
After helping Inter to three trophies, Sneijder had an impressive 2010 World Cup as Netherlands were beaten 1-0 in the final by Spain in extra time.
He finished fourth in the Ballon d'Or rankings for that year, with only Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi ahead of him.
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Asked whether he feels he should have finished higher, Sneijder replied: "I was surprised. But to be honest, I didn't care. I had only one dream, and that was winning the Champions League, you know. And that, for me, was more valuable than winning individual prizes.
“But still now, it's 13 years later that everyone is talking about that I should win this Ballon d'Or in 2010, that still gives me a good feeling. You know what I mean?
“For me, it has more value that the people the world is still talking about that I had to win.”
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Jose Mourinho, Inter Milan, Champions League, Bayern Munich