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Benni McCarthy remembers the strict eating regimes, the CCTV cameras and the penalties for being late for training.

It may not have been Louis van Gaal who was his manager, but the South African striker discovered a similar character when he joined Porto on loan in January, 2002.

The general, Octavio Machado, a name that still sends shivers down McCarthy's spine.

"It was strict, a very strict regime," McCarthy tells M.E.N Sport.

"If training started at 10am, then you had to be in the dressing room at 8.30am. We had a strict eating programme. 'This is what you eat and this is what you can't have'.

"We were video monitored everywhere. Wherever you went, you were under the microscope."

Machado, who was the club's assistant manager when they won the European Cup in 1987, had been a romantic appointment by Porto's president Pinto da Costa.

For the players, it was anything but and Porto were worryingly off course by the time Machado got his marching orders.

Fifth in the league, bottom of their group in the Champions League second-round group stage and out of the Portuguese Cup - the season was already a write-off.

Da Costa would later admit "it was one of the worst Porto teams in decades" but he still pined for the old days.

The days of Sir Bobby Robson in the mid-90s, when Porto won so many games by five goals that the local press awarded him the nickname of Bobby Five-0.

Bringing Sir Bobby back was never a realistic target, at a time when the pensioner was trying to build a title-winning side at Newcastle United, but da Costa never forgot the Englishman's former assistant.

Jose Mourinho, the man who produced those revolutionary scouting dossiers, was no longer a mere interpreter.

Mourinho was Portugal's hottest property at the time, after leading lowly Uniao de Leiria to within three points of the summit, and Porto's players soon discovered why.

"He was the type of manager who can get any player playing for him - we wanted to play for him," McCarthy remembers.

"He doesn't intimidate players. He's not just your manager; he's your friend, he's a father figure.

"When a manager does that instantly, players are like, 'That's my kind of manager'. We went out to keep him for a long time because we loved his philosophy and loved how he was with the players."

What followed was the greatest period in Porto's history.

After winning two titles, a Portuguese Cup and a maiden UEFA Cup title, Porto were an 'unstoppable train' in McCarthy's words.

The team shocked the world when they knocked out United in the Champions League second-round in 2004.

It was McCarthy who struck that injury-time free-kick that was parried by Tim Howard and bundled in by Costinha.

Then came Mourinho's famous leap from the dugout and that dart down the touchline to announce himself as a top-class manager.

Porto went on to beat Lyon and Deportivo La Coruna, before a Mourinho masterclass in the 3-0 final win over Monaco.

Inevitably, the sharks at Stamford Bridge were circling and the squad knew Mourinho was on his way.

Porto would never recover, with Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Jorge Costa, Costinha, Pedro Mendes, Maniche, Deco, Carlos Alberto and Derlei all leaving the club within a year.

"Only afterwards we were like, 'Holy mother of God. What did we just do?'" McCarthy said.

"He left the club at the top of the mountain, so now it's time for a new adventure.

"He was so well loved and when he left, it opened the door for all the players. Everybody tried to follow Mourinho but we couldn't all go. I think it's a shame because we all wanted to be part of the Mourinho regime."