THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEUCHATEL, Switzerland — It’s good that Luiz Felipe Scolari is no stranger to pressure, considering that his next coaching job will be at Chelsea.
The Portugal coach will step down after the European Championship to move into a high-profile role at the Blues in his already successful career.
Scolari will return to club soccer after seven years as the coach of Portugal and Brazil. He won the 2002 World Cup with Brazil and led Portugal to the Euro 2004 final and the 2006 World Cup semifinals. The Portuguese team are already in the quarter-finals at Euro 2008.
His next task will be to win the Champions League, the much-coveted title that Chelsea is missing.
"Scolari is upbeat, he is excited with the chance to coach Chelsea after the Euro," Scolari’s spokesman, Acaz Fellegger, said Thursday.
The pressure will certainly be there, but Scolari may just be the right man to handle it. Nearly everywhere he has coached, Scolari has dealt with high expectations and widespread criticism for his style of coaching.
"He gets the best out of a talented squad of players and his ambitions and expectations match ours," Chelsea said on its website. "He was the outstanding choice."
Scolari endured criticism from the tough Brazilian fans before the 2002 World Cup, becoming an unpopular figure after declining to call up striker Romario. And he was even criticized at club level for the boring style of his teams, which often won titles without being known for entertaining play.
The British media is certain to give the 59-year-old Scolari a hard time the first time he falters at Chelsea.
"I’m a professional," Scolari has said. "I lived and I can live anywhere in the world. I have to be prepared for anything."
Scolari will replace Avram Grant, who was fired after the Blues finished second to Manchester United in the Premier League, lost the Champions League final to the same opponents, and was beaten by Tottenham in the English Carling Cup final.
Scolari worked in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia before returning to lead Criciuma to the 1991 Brazilian Cup. He also coached in Japan, but it was with Brazilian teams Gremio and Palmeiras that he won the Copa Libertadores. His last club job before coaching Brazil was with Cruzeiro in 2000.
The Brazilian joined Portugal after the 2002 World Cup and immediately improved the team, which was talented and entertaining before but never had any significant results.
"Scolari is an ace when it comes to tactics," Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo said.
The coach renewed his contract with Portugal after Euro 2004 despite offers from top clubs and national teams. England tried to hire him, and even Brazil wanted him back after the team was eliminated in the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals.
Scolari will join Portugal players Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and the recently signed Jose Bosingwa at Chelsea.
"We like working with Scolari, and of course we will be sad when he leaves," Portugal defender Fernando Meira said. "We will have him until June 30. His departure won’t affect the national team because we all want to go as far as possible.".
It was a bittersweet feeling for fans.
"I’m happy for him, it’s a good deal," said Jose Sobral, a 54-year-old Portuguese taxi driver in Neuchatel. "But he shouldn’t have made the announcement in the middle of the Euro. That’s just wrong. He could have waited."
Fellegger said Scolari knew Chelsea would make the announcement after Portugal’s match, saying: "It was the perfect timing."
Portugal won its first two matches at Euro 2008, getting past Turkey 2-0 on Saturday and the Czech Republic 3-1 on Sunday to secure first place in Group A and a spot in the quarter-finals.
The fiery disciplinarian lived up to his "Big Phil" nickname at halftime against the Czechs, giving his players a scalding that roused them to victory.
"I said some things I can’t repeat to you," Scolari said. "My (players) were beaten like animals in the first half. I had to tell them that we are not the nice guys in the story. We had to show the opponent we know how to impose ourselves."
Midfielder Deco said Scolari "shouted two or three times there, but that’s normal. It’s his way of reaching out to the group."
Scolari’s temper was on display in a foul-mouthed tirade against reporters in 2004, while at the end of European qualifying earlier this year he stormed out of a news conference after being questioned by a reporter. The incident came just months after UEFA banned the coach for two months for scuffling with Serbia player Ivica Dragutinovic after a match.