Luiz Felipe ScolariOIH (Brazilian Portuguese:[luˈisfiˈlipiskoˈlaɾi]; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian footballmanager and former player.
After a return to club management at Chelsea in the Premier League, Scolari was hired again as manager of the Brazil national team in 2012. He led them to victory at the 2013 Confederations Cup, and to the semi-final in the 2014 World Cup. After the Brazil national team finished fourth overall in an upset 1–7 loss to Germany in the semi-finals, and a 0–3 loss to the Netherlands in the third-place playoff, the Brazilian Football Confederation decided not to renew his contract. In 2015, he started work at Guangzhou Evergrande and went on to claim both the 2015 Chinese Super League and 2015 AFC Champions League in his first season with the club.[2] He returned to Palmeiras in 2018, winning his second Brazilian league title that year.
Scolari is a dual citizen of Brazil and Italy, as he is descended from Italian immigrants.[3]
Playing career
Scolari was born in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul.[1] A defender regarded as more uncompromising than skillful, he was known among his contemporaries as "Perna-de-Pau" (literally translated as "wooden leg" in Portuguese, a Brazilian slang for a bad player), Scolari followed in the footsteps of his father, Benjamin Scolari, who was also a professional footballer.[4] His playing career encompassed spells with Caxias, Juventude, Novo Hamburgo, and CSA; he often captained his sides. It was with CSA that he won his only major title as a player – the 1981 Campeonato Alagoano.
Managerial career
Early career
Upon retiring as a player in 1982, he was appointed manager of CSA, his former club, and would go on to win the Alagoas state championship in his first season. After spells with Juventude (twice), Brasil de Pelotas and Pelotas and Saudi Arabian side Al-Shabab, he moved to Grêmio, where he won the 1987 Gaúcho state championship. After managing Goiás, Scolari had a two-year stint in charge of Kuwaiti side Al Qadisiya Kuwait, with whom he won the prestigious Kuwait Emir Cup in 1989. This was followed by a brief period as manager of the Kuwait national team, winning the 10th Gulf Cup in Kuwait. Scolari returned to Brazil to coach Coritiba. He stayed for just three matches, losing all of them. After the last loss, he abandoned the club by boarding the winning team's bus back to his hometown; and did not return even to collect his wages.[5] Scolari coached Criciúma to their first major national title, in the 1991 Copa do Brasil. He returned to club management in the Middle East, managing Al-Ahli and a second spell at Al Qadisiya.
Return to Grêmio
In 1993, Scolari returned to Grêmio, where, albeit leading the team to historic victories, he was criticized by the Brazilian media for playing a pragmatic style of football regarded as "un-Brazilian". He claimed six titles in only three years, including the 1995 Copa Libertadores, which qualified Grêmio for the Intercontinental Cup, which they lost to Dutch side Ajax on penalties.[6][7] The following year, they won the Brazilian Championship.[8]
In 1997, Scolari became manager of J. League side Júbilo Iwata, but left after eleven games and shortly afterwards took charge of Palmeiras back in Brazil.
In 2000, Scolari was appointed to manage Minas Gerais club Cruzeiro, coaching them for a year.
Brazil
In June 2001, Scolari was appointed manager of his native Brazil, who, with five qualifying matches ahead, were in jeopardy of not qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which would be a first in the Brazilian competitive record. Despite losing his first match 1–0 to Uruguay, Scolari eventually guided the team to qualification.
In the build-up to the finals, Scolari refused to include veteran strikerRomário in his squad, despite public pressure and a tearful appeal from the player himself.[9] Brazil entered the tournament unfancied, but wins over Turkey, China, Costa Rica, Belgium, England and Turkey again took them to the final, where they beat Germany 2–0 with two goals from Ronaldo to win their fifth FIFA World Cup title.[10] Scolari resigned in August 2002, intending to move to Europe.[11]
Portugal
In November 2002 Scolari was appointed coach of Portugal, who would be the host nation for UEFA Euro 2004. The appointment was controversial as Scolari was highly paid, and was the first foreigner to coach Portugal since Otto Glória. Scolari caused more controversy by calling up Brazil-born Deco, who had only recently become eligible for Portuguese citizenship.[12] At Euro 2004, Portugal got through the group stages and saw off England in the quarter-finals on penalties before beating the Netherlands in the semi-finals. In the final, however, they were beaten in a 1–0 upset by tournament underdogsGreece.[13] Scolari managed Portugal through the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where they reached the semi-finals, again coming out victorious in the quarterfinals against England. But they did not reach the final due to a semifinal defeat against eventual runners-upFrance. Following the tournament, Scolari was strongly linked with the job of England manager, but chose to see out his contract with Portugal.[14]
Scolari took Portugal to Euro 2008, where they reached the knock-out stages by placing first in Group A before being eliminated by Germany in the quarter-finals. During the tournament, he announced that he would be joining English Premier League side Chelsea for the 2008–09 season.
Chelsea
Scolari took over as manager of Chelsea on 1 July 2008. This was announced shortly after Portugal's Euro 2008 match against the Czech Republic on 11 June. With this appointment, Scolari became the first World Cup-winning manager to manage in the Premier League. In previous press conferences, Scolari had talked about "tantrums" and "triumphs" and had a reputation as a tough and unpredictable person.[15] When asked whether his decision to join Chelsea was financial, he responded, "Yes, that is one of the reasons," but also added, "I'm 59 and I don't want to work as a coach until I'm 70. I want to retire in four or five years, so it was a financial matter but there are other things." He also said, "I could offer my son the opportunity to study elsewhere. You only get this kind of opportunity once so you take it or leave it, but it was not only financial."[16] Scolari later said that he had turned down an offer to manage Manchester City.[17]
Scolari's first match in charge of Chelsea was a friendly match against Chinese side Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, a 4–0 victory.[18] He made Barcelona midfielder Deco, a player he was familiar with on the Portugal national team, his first signing for a fee of around £8 million,[19] but was subsequently frustrated in his attempts to sign Brazilian international Robinho from Real Madrid.[20] Under Scolari, Chelsea had the biggest away win of the club in five years in which Chelsea won 5–0 at the Riverside Stadium in October 2008. It was also the club's biggest win ever at Middlesbrough.
Scolari was sacked as Chelsea manager on 9 February 2009[21] after a run of poor form culminating in a 2–0 defeat at Liverpool followed by frustrating 0–0 home draw with Hull City. The club's stated reason for his removal was that "the results and performances of the team appeared to be deteriorating at a key time in the season".[22] Scolari's replacement at Chelsea for the remainder of the 2008–09 season was Dutch manager Guus Hiddink, who simultaneously managed the Russia national team.
Bunyodkor
On 6 June 2009, Scolari was spotted in attendance at Uzbekistan's World Cup qualifier against Japan; on 8 June 2009, Scolari revealed that he had signed an 18-month contract with the Uzbekistani champions FC Bunyodkor.[23] The contract made Scolari the highest paid football manager in the world, earning €13 million a year.[24]
He left by mutual consent on 29 May 2010 after failing to guide Bunyodkor past the last 16 in the AFC Champions League, although he cited concern regarding his son's education as the key reason.
Return to Palmeiras
On 13 June 2010, Scolari was announced as Palmeiras' new manager. He signed a 2+1⁄2-year contract.[25] Palmeiras were 2012 Copa do Brasil champions under his management. In September 2012, Scolari left by mutual consent after an unsatisfying result in the Campeonato Brasileiro.[26]
Brazil defeated Uruguay 2–1 in the semi-final match of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in a tough draw, with goals from Fred in the 41st minute paired with a late goal from Paulinho in the 86th minute. In the final, Brazil defeated Spain 3–0 with two goals from Fred and one from Neymar.
After a successful campaign which earned them a semi-final spot in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil were defeated 7–1 in an upset loss against Germany at the semi-final stage, which became their biggest-ever defeat at the World Cup (their largest margin of defeat was previously losing 3-0 to France in the 1998 final), the record for most goals conceded in their World Cup track record and its first home loss in a competitive match since 1975.[31] Scolari described the match as "the worst day of [his] life", and took responsibility for the loss.[32]
On 14 July 2014, following a further 3–0 defeat in the third place playoff match against the Netherlands, Scolari resigned from his position as Brazilian manager.[33][34][35]
Third return to Grêmio
On 29 July 2014, Scolari signed with Grêmio. He was officially unveiled by the club the following day at the Arena do Grêmio. On 19 May 2015, Scolari resigned from his position after a poor start to the season.[36]
Guangzhou Evergrande
On 4 June 2015, Scolari was appointed head coach of Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande, signing a one-and-a-half plus one-year contract.[37] After four months in charge, Scolari led the club to victory in the 2015 Chinese Super League and AFC Champions League, defeating Cosmin Olăroiu's Al-Ahli side with a 1–0 aggregate win in the final.[38] He extended his contract for one year on 24 October 2016 after his potential successor Marcello Lippi was appointed as the manager of China national team.[39] Scolari led Guangzhou win three consecutive league titles from 2015 to 2017. He refused to extend his contract again by the end of 2017 season.[40]
Third return to Palmeiras
On 27 July 2018, Scolari returned to Brazilian side Palmeiras for a third time.[41] On 2 September 2019, Scolari would be fired by club, that is under a poor performance after 2019 Copa America; in this period, Scolari gained only 23.8% of points played by Palmeiras.[42]
Return to Cruzeiro
On 15 October 2020, Scolari returned to manage the football team of Cruzeiro.[43] On 25 January 2021, Scolari and Cruzeiro parted ways by mutual agreement.[44]
Fourth return to Grêmio
On 7 July 2021, Scolari returned to Grêmio for the fourth time, with the goal of moving the team out of the last place in the Brasileiro Série A and fighting for the Copa Sudamericana.[45] He left on a mutual agreement on 11 October, with the club second bottom of the league.[46]
Athletico Paranaense
On 4 May 2022, Scolari was hired by Athletico Paranaense as a technical director, being also a manager of the first team "until new definitions".[47] With favorable results, he ended up coaching the side for the remainder of the season, leading them to the 2022 Copa Libertadores final, lost 1–0 to Flamengo. He stepped down as head coach and continued at the club solely as a director in the 2023 season, appointing his assistant Paulo Turra as his successor.
Atlético Mineiro
On 16 June 2023, Scolari accepted an offer to resume his coaching career at Atlético Mineiro, signing a one-and-a-half-year deal.[48] He led the club to an impressive run in the 2023 Série A, but left on a mutual agreement on 20 March 2024, despite the club being in the 2024 Campeonato Mineiro finals.[49]
Personal life
Scolari also holds Italian citizenship, since his family emigrated from Veneto. He is a fan of Grêmio,[50] and was reported to be a fan of Nottingham Forest, having watched their successes under Brian Clough in the 1970s.[51] Scolari is a Roman Catholic.[52]
During his career, the media has been fond of pointing out Scolari's facial resemblance to actor Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando's portrayal of Don Vito Corleone in the film The Godfather.[53][54] In Brazil, Scolari is also known as "Felipão", and during his stint with Chelsea, he was sometimes referred by the English translation, Big Phil.[55][56]
^"Felipão é do Galo" [Felipão to Galo] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Clube Atlético Mineiro. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
^"Galo informa saída de Felipão" [Galo announce the departure of Felipão] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Clube Atlético Mineiro. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.