Scolari reputation tainted
Print Edition
LUIZ Felipe Scolari may have been the coach when Brazil won the World Cup in 2002, but his name will now forever be associated with failure and the worst result in the country’s soccer history.
The 65-year-old knew he was putting his legendary status on the line when he agreed to replace the sacked Mano Menezes in late 2012 and lead the Selecao into the World Cup on home soil.
“The players know they will have to win the World Cup. We can’t play a tournament in Brazil and think that second place will do,” he said in an interview with Britain’s Guardian late last year.
He exuded confidence that Brazil could go all the way right up until last Tuesday’s shattering 1-7 semifinal defeat at the hands of Germany, a reverse that broke numerous unwanted records.
The 0-3 loss to the Netherlands that followed in Saturday’s third-place play-off in Brasilia ensured that the host’s campaign ended in more disappointment.
But Scolari insists that the Selecao’s performance on home soil should be viewed in a positive light, and claims that he had no choice but to talk up his team’s chances going into the competition.
“I said in 2002 that if we finished in the first four we would be satisfied — but that was in Korea and Japan,” he said. “We are in Brazil. If I said that this time I would be finished before I even started.
“I see the positive side. Since we were last champions in 2002, this is the first time we have finished in the top four,” he added, while continuing to proclaim the merits of his side, pointing above all to last year’s Confederations Cup triumph.
Having previously claimed that his team could win the World Cup, now he insists that he has brought on a young team that will stand Brazil in good stead when the 2018 tournament comes around in Russia. But the reality is that only five of this year’s squad — Oscar, Paulinho, Willian, Bernard and Neymar — will still be aged under 30 by then.
And Scolari will surely not be there. His contract is now up, but he has left a decision over his future in the hands of the Brazilian Football Confederation.
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