Jose Mourinho will not accept an offer to take temporary charge of the struggling Portuguese national team for next month's Euro 2012 qualifiers, the Real Madrid coach said Friday. Mourinho was approached by Portugal's football federation (FPF) and asked if he would take over for the qualifiers at home to Denmark on Oct. 8 and away to Iceland four days later. He told a news conference at Real's training ground Friday he was unable to accept the offer as he believed his club would not have reacted positively to his absence. “For personal pride and passion for Portugal I couldn't say no but I can't say yes either,” Mourinho said. “My sense is that in the Real Madrid world it would have been interpreted negatively,” he added. “There would have to be total agreement and I don't think that's going to happen. Real Madrid has every right to make the decision they have. For me the issue is finished.” Portugal sacked Carlos Queiroz this month after he was suspended for six months for insulting anti-doping agents before the World Cup and have yet to name a replacement. They have had a poor start to their qualifying campaign, with a 4-4 home draw against Cyprus and a 1-0 defeat in Norway. Valencia could return in Feb. In England, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson says injured winger Antonio Valencia could return to action by the end of February. Valencia underwent surgery Wednesday on a broken ankle sustained in the second half of the Champions League match against Rangers. Ferguson said “you can never be 100 percent accurate in these situations and it is a bad injury, but we are looking at the end of February, which is better than we thought.” Ferguson, who initially feared the Ecuador international would miss the rest of the season, added Friday that Valencia “is a strong boy, who is very positive about it.” ‘Ballack can return' Germany coach Joachim Loew says midfielder Michael Ballack can still return to the national team despite his latest injury setback. Ballack turns 34 later this month. He missed the World Cup with an ankle injury and now faces a six-week layoff with a new leg injury. The Bayer Leverkusen player officially remains Germany captain but Loew has said he must regain his pre-injury form to earn his place back. Loew told Wednesday's edition of the Badische Zeitung that “in principle I think Michael Ballack can come back again, because he is driven by enormous ambition.” He said Ballack has never shied away from fighting for his place, but says that “such a situation is not easy” because “time goes on ... new, young players come in.”
