Luiz Felipe Scolari

Luiz Felipe Scolari

Personal information
Full name	Luiz Felipe Scolari
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Portugal, As of July 1st: Chelsea

Luiz Felipe Scolari, ComIH (born November 9, 1948 in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football coach, who led the Brazilian national team to victory in the 2002 World Cup. He has been the head coach of the Portuguese national team since 2003. Since 2002 he is also an Italian citizen.

On 1 July, 2008, Scolari will become the manager of the Premier League side Chelsea. This was announced shortly after Portugal's Euro 2008 match against Czech Republic on 11th June.

Personality

Scolari is famous for his temper and for his histrionic "performance" by the field while the match is going on, reacting strongly to both the best and the worst moments of his team. A good example of his fierce temper was a September 12, 2007 qualifying match for Euro 2008 against Serbia when, at the end of the game, and after the referee had blown the whistle for a 1-1 draw, Scolari, after being slapped in the hand by the Serbian player Ivica Dragutinovic, grazed him in the face with a left hook . His character, however, is often seen as a good point, instead of a drawback, because he tries to keep the players (and himself) free of external pressures: he usually demands a lot more freedom than most coaches are allowed and is bent on exerting a somewhat discretionary power. Some critics mostly agree that his unique character was very beneficial to the Portuguese national team, which had a tradition of talented players but never won anything because of excessive intervention from the federation, the clubs and the player's agents, as well as a lack of a true "team spirit". However, his reputation as a "father" and big friend to his players is untouchable.

In the 2002 FIFA World Cup he gave each of his players a copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, a Chinese military treatise written during the 6th century BC. He also gave the team recordings of Ivete Sangalo Festa videoclip, to enforce the Brazilian spirit and motivate the team engagement. In the recent 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany he used the The Art of War again to plan his team's win against England. .

Scolari also holds Italian citizenship, since his family emigrated from Veneto. He is said to be a fan of Grêmio and Palmeiras. Scolari will take over as Chelsea FC manager 1st of July 2008. This was announced shortly after Portugal's Euro 2008 match against Czech Republic on 11th June. Chelsea Are Still Gonna Win Jack Under Him Coz Dey R Plain Crap