Source: TheGuardian
Luiz Felipe Scolari: 'Everything I did as a manager, I learned as a teacher'
Big Phil chats about his tussles with England, winning the World Cup with Brazil, Ronaldinho’s cross, the 7-1, why it did not work for him at Chelsea and why he loves English fansBy Joshua Law for Yellow & Green FootballAsk any of the footballers who have ever been managed by Luiz Felipe Scolari and they will all say the same thing: Felipão is not to be messed with. But, on a sunny morning in São Paulo, behind his aviator sunglasses and neatly trimmed moustache, he looks relaxed and content. Well he might. We are talking before the coronavirus pandemic shook the world and Scolari has been kicking back at home. “I’ve been on the beach for two months, every day,” he says. “It’s the first time I’ve been able to do that in 50 years.”Scolari has been out of work since being sacked by Palmeiras in September and has been spending time in his native Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, to plan his next steps and mull over the last half century. There is rather a lot to reflect on. As a manager he has worked in eight countries and been to three World Cups. There was a winner’s medal in 2002 and two more semi-final appearances, the second of which we will come to later. Related: A century of the Seleção: the remarkable story of Brazilian football Related: How a football shirt number is being used to oppose homophobia in Brazil Related: How Bahia became the most progressive football club in Brazil Related: The making of Roberto Firmino, by his earliest mentors in Brazil Related: Inside the Grêmio academy, home of Brazil's brightest young footballers Continue reading......read full article
