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Big Phil stands by convictions
YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) -- Luiz Felipe Scolari, who until little more than one year ago was a club coach best known for achieving success without worrying how he did it, turned world beater on Sunday as his Brazil side won the World Cup. Scolari, who became infamous for publicly telling his teams to foul the opposition, was rewarded for standing by his convictions, often in the face of enormous public pressure. He refused to change his controversial 3-5-2 system even though many critics wanted Brazil to use 4-4-2. He kept faith with Rivaldo, even though many had suggested the Barcelona player seemed ill at ease in the Brazil shirt and only produced his best form for his club. He also stubbornly refused to pick veteran striker Romario, defying enormous popular pressure and a lobby that included Brazil President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. His decisions were justified as Brazil won all seven of their games, Rivaldo scored five goals and the three-pronged strikeforce of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho produced movement off the ball which Romario -- who prefers simply to lurk in the penalty area -- would never have been capable of. PHYSICAL GAME Yet only 13 months ago, when the man known as Big Phil was made coach of Brazil, his appointment was greeted with enormous apprehension. Although Scolari had been hugely successful in club football, winning South America's Libertadores Cup with both Gremio and Palmeiras, his methods shocked some observers. A modest former central defender who played for small clubs in Brazil's deep south, his teams generally played a tough, physical, disciplined game in which fouling the opposition was considered a legitimate tactic. Scolari encouraged his players to use gamesmanship and was once caught by television cameras threatening a referee who had just sent him off, yelling at the official: "I'll wait for you outside, mate." Was this the end of the Beautiful Game, Brazilians wondered. In his early days as Brazil coach, the worst fears appeared to be justified. Scolari packed his team with up to eight defensive players and, after they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Argentina in a World Cup qualifier, he berated the players for not doing enough time-wasting. As Brazil continued to struggle in the qualifiers, he could have gone down in history as the man who was in charge when the country missed out on the World Cup for the first time. But as Scolari -- who said this week that his first three months had been hell -- became more confident and settled in, the team's results improved and Brazil went into the World Cup with an unbeaten seven-match run. SCOLARI FAMILY The coach, who made a point of trying to turn his squad into a family, instilled a team spirit rarely seen in the Brazil camp, where the clashing of egos often threatens to make them self-destruct. "We played with vibrancy, friendship, union, participation and dedication to the cause," he said. He also proved he could dance according to the music, sending his team into all-out attack in their first four games, and then tightening them up for the later matches. "In the beginning, we needed to revive the image of a winning Brazil by using our attacking strength and that was when we imposed the respect that we didn't have in the qualifiers," he said. Scolari also paid tribute to his defence, which was seen as a possible weakness, especially before the quarter-final against England. "The defence, which everybody criticised so much, is the best in the world because not only do our players work together, but they also have good technical ability," he said. He suggested that his history-making team could be an example to be followed by the politicians back home. "We showed that Brazilians can be disciplined when they want to be," he said. "Everybody knows that I don't like politics, but I think this is the way Brazil can improve."
Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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