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Portugal ropes in Scolcari for 2004 European championships
Portugal, Dec 15: Luiz Felipe Scolcari, who won the 2002 World Cup with his native Brazil, has arrived in Portugal to sign his new contract as coach of the national team and said his goal was to win the 2004 European championships.
Portugal, Dec 15: Luiz Felipe Scolcari, who won the 2002 World Cup with his native Brazil, has arrived in Portugal to sign his new contract as coach of the national team and said his goal was to win the 2004 European championships.
Brazilian World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari promised to revive the fortunes of the Portuguese national as he was officially presented as new national coach at the Federation's headquarters in Lisbon. Chairman Gilberto Madail was delighted to place the official Federation's pin in Scolari's suit but admitted that hiring the 54 year-old Brazilian was "a calculated financial risk". Details of the contract signed on Saturday (December 14) were not disclosed. Scolari faces a turnaround job with a Portuguese squad that had been among the fancied teams going into the World Cup. It suffered a shock first-round exit after losses to the United States and host South Korea, and left under a cloud with the harassment of a referee in its 1-0 loss to South Korea.
Although Scolari has less than two years to get Portugal out of the doldrums, he performed a similar task with Brazil in just 14 months.
Known as "Big Phil", Scolari led Brazil from one of its lowest points to its fifth World Cup title with a 2-0 win over Germany.
Portuguese federation chairman Madail presented the new coach at a news conference shown live on radio and television.
"The best solution for the federation was to make a collective effort to hire the man we consider, and who is considered, the best coach in the world," said Madail who faced a lot of internal resistance to hire the Brazilian.
After posing holding the official jersey of the Portuguese team, Scolari said Portugal, the host country for the June 2004 tournament, had the raw material to win its first international title despite its humiliating first-round exit from the World Cup this year.
"We didn't come here just to do a good job. We came here to reach the goal of the entire Portuguese people, especially the players and leaders of the Portuguese team, that we get to the final of the European Cup in the status of winners," said the coach who also won the Gulf Cup with Kuwait.
Coming from a country where second place means nothing, the man who led Brazilian clubs Palmeiras to South American Libertadores Cup added: "The Portuguese people can't demand the title from me, just as the Brazilian people did not demand the fifth World Cup title in Korea and Japan. But from the bottom of its (Brazil's) heart it did not want and would not accept defeat.
The Portuguese people and the players and now, us, should not accept defeat. We must work to reach the European final."
Scolari said he would look beyond such stars as Real Madrid midfielder Luis Figo and AC Milan playmaker Rui Costa in putting together his squad. He stressed that he was looking for team players.
Asked what he would do when Portugal play against Brazil in a friendly in March 2003, he said: "In that game, I am going to do everything possible to beat Brazil. I am always going to root for Brazil but in this game my heart will be Portuguese, and if I can, together with my players, we will win. You can be certain that we will be working for that.""But in this game, my heart will be Portuguese," he said.
Scolari will be joined by Brazilian assistant coach Flavio Teixeira and trainer Darlan Schneider and will also be working alongside caretaker Antonio Oliveira.
He takes over the job in January and his first game as head of the national squad is a friendly against Italy on February 12 in Florence.
Portugal automatically qualifies for the European tournament as its host. The championship is a major investment for Portugal, one of the poorest countries in the European Union and facing a government budget crisis. Portugal is building or revamping 10 stadiums at a cost of 550 million Euros.
Bureau Report
Brazilian World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari promised to revive the fortunes of the Portuguese national as he was officially presented as new national coach at the Federation's headquarters in Lisbon. Chairman Gilberto Madail was delighted to place the official Federation's pin in Scolari's suit but admitted that hiring the 54 year-old Brazilian was "a calculated financial risk". Details of the contract signed on Saturday (December 14) were not disclosed. Scolari faces a turnaround job with a Portuguese squad that had been among the fancied teams going into the World Cup. It suffered a shock first-round exit after losses to the United States and host South Korea, and left under a cloud with the harassment of a referee in its 1-0 loss to South Korea.
Although Scolari has less than two years to get Portugal out of the doldrums, he performed a similar task with Brazil in just 14 months.
Known as "Big Phil", Scolari led Brazil from one of its lowest points to its fifth World Cup title with a 2-0 win over Germany.
Portuguese federation chairman Madail presented the new coach at a news conference shown live on radio and television.
"The best solution for the federation was to make a collective effort to hire the man we consider, and who is considered, the best coach in the world," said Madail who faced a lot of internal resistance to hire the Brazilian.
After posing holding the official jersey of the Portuguese team, Scolari said Portugal, the host country for the June 2004 tournament, had the raw material to win its first international title despite its humiliating first-round exit from the World Cup this year.
"We didn't come here just to do a good job. We came here to reach the goal of the entire Portuguese people, especially the players and leaders of the Portuguese team, that we get to the final of the European Cup in the status of winners," said the coach who also won the Gulf Cup with Kuwait.
Coming from a country where second place means nothing, the man who led Brazilian clubs Palmeiras to South American Libertadores Cup added: "The Portuguese people can't demand the title from me, just as the Brazilian people did not demand the fifth World Cup title in Korea and Japan. But from the bottom of its (Brazil's) heart it did not want and would not accept defeat.
The Portuguese people and the players and now, us, should not accept defeat. We must work to reach the European final."
Scolari said he would look beyond such stars as Real Madrid midfielder Luis Figo and AC Milan playmaker Rui Costa in putting together his squad. He stressed that he was looking for team players.
Asked what he would do when Portugal play against Brazil in a friendly in March 2003, he said: "In that game, I am going to do everything possible to beat Brazil. I am always going to root for Brazil but in this game my heart will be Portuguese, and if I can, together with my players, we will win. You can be certain that we will be working for that.""But in this game, my heart will be Portuguese," he said.
Scolari will be joined by Brazilian assistant coach Flavio Teixeira and trainer Darlan Schneider and will also be working alongside caretaker Antonio Oliveira.
He takes over the job in January and his first game as head of the national squad is a friendly against Italy on February 12 in Florence.
Portugal automatically qualifies for the European tournament as its host. The championship is a major investment for Portugal, one of the poorest countries in the European Union and facing a government budget crisis. Portugal is building or revamping 10 stadiums at a cost of 550 million Euros.
Bureau Report