Scolari has added a touch of steel (Allsport).
BIG PHIL A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK
By Jason Hughes, PA International, Japan
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"It's not a marvellous side but it's competitive." It is extremely doubtful
whether coach Luiz Felipe Scolari would have still been in a job if he had made
this admission about his Brazilian team a year ago.
Brazil, the nation which brought us the Beautiful Game via the talents of
Pele, Rivelino and Jairzinho, came to this World Cup under the tutelage of a man
known as 'Big Phil'.
Scolari has added tough-tackling methods and rigid formations to a side
brought up on those artistic legends.
Was he trying to strangle the flair and the free-spirited nature out of
extremely talented individuals, or just adding a harder edge needed to compete
at the World Cup?
The fact that Brazil are still here as the sole South American representatives
should indicate that Scolari has got it right.
In the three Rs - Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho - they have a fluent attack,
while their display when down to 10 men against England proved they have become
more tactically astute and less brittle since a torrid qualifying campaign.
When he took over last June he became the fourth man to occupy the hot-seat in
a year, and his appointment was initially popular.
He was, for the record, Brazil's most domestically successful coach of the
1990s.
Famously, Scolari has punished his club teams in the past for committing too
few fouls.
The former Gremio coach took charge from Emerson Leao more than halfway
through Brazil's qualifying campaign when little was going right.
Defeat by Bolivia left their qualification hopes depending on a result against
Venezuela. A 3-0 win secured third place in CONMEBOL qualifying but appeased
few.
Scolari made his name as an uncompromising, direct leader.
His club sides, especially his physical Gremio outfit which won the 1995 Copa
Libertadores, would frequently have their games ending in free-for-all brawls.
This is not Scolari's first footballing foray to the Far East, for he coached
J-League outfit Jubilo Iwata in 1997.
Scolari's Brazil almost missed out on qualification and they arrived at the
World Cup with only tradition suggesting they should be title contenders.
But Scolari has guided his team comfortably through to the semi-final against
Turkey with a mix of individual flair and a collective ethic.
"Everybody knows it is the result that comes first," he said.
"I want to achieve what we set out to. If we can put on a show as well,
excellent, we can put the two together."
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