NAIROBI: Real Madrid`s new coach Jose Mourinho sought the assistance of Kenyan jujumen to help him succeed in his tough new job with the Spanish giants, one of the men told AFP on Sunday.

Mourinho, who spent a three-week holiday in Kenya with his family this month, met with the four men during his last days in the paradise resort region of Ukunda, on the south coast.

"We met him through an intermediary in a secret location because he did not want the media to know. He was driven to the place in a tourist`s van accompanied by his wife," said Mzee Makthub, a reputed Mombasa medicineman, who has acted as a consultant to many politicians and football officials.

Makthub added: "He asked us to help him succeed in his new job. Of course everyone who is undertaking a new assignment, even the politicians always seek that external assistance.

"Mourinho said he was taking a tough assignment at Real Madrid and he wanted to earn the respect of the people he was going to work with."

The 47-year-old Mourinho refused to have his photograph taken or grant interviews with reporters during his Kenyan visit, which included a stay in the famed Masai Mara game park.

He flew back to Europe last Sunday, only four days before he arrived at Real Madrid on a four-year contract after leading Italian club, Inter Milan to a historic treble last season.

BDST: 2014 HRS, JULY 18, 2010