Brazil's 2002 World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is to return to lead his country's bid to win a sixth world title on home soil, a source close to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) told ‘Reuters’ on Wednesday.
The man known as Big Phil, who also led Portugal to a European championship and World Cup semifinal before a short, unsuccessful spell with Chelsea, would be officially named on Thursday to replace the sacked Mano Menezes, the source said.
Carlos Alberto Parreira, who led Brazil to their fourth world title in 1994, would be named technical director, according to another source close to the federation.
In his first stint as coach, Scolari took over with the team in disarray, turned around the situation and led them to an unexpected triumph against all odds in barely more than a year at the helm, resisting public demand for him to pick an aging Romario.
However, many feel that the 64-year-old has lost his magic touch. In his most recent job, he quit Palmeiras in September after a dismal run left them near the bottom of the Brazilian championship. They did not recover and were later relegated.
Scolari will have to cope with huge pressure and enormous expectations from his 190 million compatriots. Brazil's vast and fickle army of supporters always expect them to win the World Cup and the pressure will be even greater as the country hosts the event.
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