'Big Phil' Scolari once again stands in England's way

By George Burns Jun 29, 2006, 15:24 GMT

Portuguese national soccer team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. EPA/PETER KNEFFEL

Baden-Baden, Germany - Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari seems to be the man the English love to hate at this World Cup, not surprising really considering England have fallen to a side coached by the Brazilian in their last two tournaments.

When Portugal take on England in their World Cup quarter-final tie in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday 'Big Phil' as he is affectionately known will be looking to make it a hat-trick of tournament victories over Sven Goran Eriksson.

England crashed out on penalties to his Portugal side in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004 while Scolari also eliminated Eriksson's team on his way to World Cup glory with Brazil in Japan and Korea two years earlier.

To add insult to injury, two months ago Scolari also turned down the chance of succeeding the Swede when he steps down from his 5- million pounds a year job at the end of the tournament, leading the British media to denounce the 57-year-old as a coward.

'When it came to the biggest job in football - managing England - Scolari chickened out,' wrote the Daily Mirror ahead of Saturday's crunch tie, adding that 'Scolari has ruffled a few England feathers. Now we have to make him pay'.

The English media frenzy surrounding Saturday's match has caused Scolari to screen off training sessions at Portugal's World Cup camp in Marienfeld to stop journalists spying on his team.

English reporters sneaked into the team's headquarters, trampling down a fence and hiding in trees to shoot photographs and film the players.

The Football Association of Portugal also banned three English journalists from their camp after complaining that the English press had printed interviews with Scolari and striker Pauleta although neither of the two had spoken to reporters.

Eriksson has tried to play down his third battle with Scolari, saying he is convinced England 'will stay in Germany for a long time still' while defender Rio Ferdinand has said he won't be losing any sleep about facing a team coached by Scolari.

'I won't be thinking about him one bit. He is nothing for me to think about. He's not my manager, he's nothing to do with England,' said the Manchester United defender. 'The players are the people who make the difference.'

Owen Hargreaves repeated the message, saying a manager can't intervene and that it was 'down to the 11 players on the pitch'.

'It is not just about Scolari. It is about the success of our team,' said the Bayern Munich midfielder.

'To say we want to win to spite Scolari would not be the right phrase. We want to be successful, we want to get to the next phase of the World Cup. We are one game from the semi-final and that would be a great achievement.'