Luiz Felipe Scolari’s first stint as Brazil manager in 2002
ended in scenes of jubilation after winning a landmark 5th World Cup
for the country - the first, and so far only country to reach the landmark.
Fast forward 10 years, and Big Phil is back in the role again – being tasked
with a job which will inevitably end up with further glory, or the sack. The
2014 World Cup, hosted by Brazil of course, is judged by all in the country as
a must win tournament – anything other than that will be a national disaster.
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| Luiz Felipe Scolari at his first press conference |
Following the sacking of Mano Menezes last Friday, Pep
Guardiola was being thrust forward for the job by the media – as a footballing
romantic, a chance to lead Brazil to victory in a home World Cup would have
been too difficult to turn down for the former Barcelona man. Rumoured as being
the only job which would see him come back from his sabbatical, the Brazil job
would be almost impossible to turn down for him, or anyone. However he didn’t
have a chance to turn it down.
Brazil’s proud national history is shown by their refusal to
consider having a foreign coach managing their national team thus far. So
unfortunately for Pep Guardiola, he was never really under consideration from
the CBF (Brazilian version of the FA). He also has no experience of managing a
national side, another factor in this decision. The combination of these made
Scolari a very attractive choice – and Palmeiras sacking him recently made him
available.
The failure of Menezes to win the Olympics in the summer,
despite reaching the final, had a huge role to play in his sacking, but Scolari
being employed at that time meant the CBF delayed the decision. Now that their
star man was available, Big Phil was pounced upon. He knows the pressure he is
under - "Brazil have an obligation to win the 2014 World Cup" he said
on Thursday. He knows that anything other than victory will be a failure.
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| Neymar and Oscar could be key for Brazil in 2014 |
It will be interesting to see what changes Scolari will make
to the Brazil squad with a huge amount of talent at his disposal. Under Menezes’ reign the squad selected throughout was
very similar to the Olympics squad – showing the emphasis on bringing a team
through together at the same time. The 5 time world champions have been
focusing all effort on this upcoming World Cup and the pressure will be on the
new boss to do the same. His first squad will be the one named for the friendly
at Wembley against England (which I should be attending, in fact) in February,
a perfect chance for everyone to see what the future holds for Brazil. Nobody
knows for sure whether Scolari’s return will be a success. That will remain
uncertain for months. But one thing is for sure - the world will be watching.
