After a 35-year coaching career that has included jobs in eight countries, Luiz Felipe Scolari has an eclectic and unmatched trophy cabinet.
He has won the World Cup with Brazil, the Gulf Cup with Kuwait, the Copa Libertadores with Gremio and Palmeiras and the Asian Champions League with Guangzhou Evergrande, not to mention 21 other titles. No other manager has enjoyed such success around the globe at both international and domestic level. And the Brazilian credits much of his career success to Saudi Arabia.
It was in 1984, while Scolari was still wet behind the ears as coach of lowly Brasil de Pelotas in Rio Grande do Sul, that he received an invitation to the Kingdom from his friend and managerial journeyman Rubens Minelli. Minelli had enjoyed spells at the helm of Al-Hilal and the Saudi Arabia national team and had suggested to officials at Riyadh’s Al-Shabab club that there was a former physical education teacher showing managerial promise back in Brazil.
Scolari met the club and was offered the role of head coach, propelling him on a journey that would eventually see him coaching in places as far-flung as Uzbekistan and China.
While his spell in the Saudi Arabian capital lasted little more than two years, he led Al-Shabab to second in the league before going back to Pelotas. He returned to the region in 1989 as coach of Al-Qadisiya and victory in the Kuwait Emir Cup was enough to see him given the responsibility of leading the host nation at the 1990 Gulf Cup in Kuwait. Although he would win it, by the end of the following year he was back in Saudi Arabia as manager of Al-Ahli in Jeddah.
“If I am anybody today as a football coach I owe a lot to Saudi Arabia because it was the first country that gave me the opportunity to be a coach abroad; the first country that gave me a sense of what it’s like to leave Brazil and work outside,” Scolari told Arab News during an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Bilbao International Football Summit.
“We did a good job at Al-Shabab, then I went back a few years later to Al-Ahli, where we also did a wonderful job. Arab football enjoyed a better phase than it does today because it had great Brazilian coaches and other foreign coaches from all over the world. It was a very big evolution for the game there and I am proud to have been a part of that. For this, I am always grateful and always speak in a very grateful way in regard to my time there.”
It was only after returning to Brazil that Scolari’s career trajectory shot skywards. In three years at Grêmio, he won six titles including the club’s first Brazilian championship in 15 years as well as the 1995 Copa Libertadores. He replicated his success on the continent four years later with Palmeiras and was the obvious candidate to get the best out of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho as coach of Brazil during their successful World Cup campaign in 2002.
Trying to rekindle an old love is, however, a difficult and risky affair. After spells at Portugal, Chelsea, Bunyodkor and Palmeiras, when Brazil approached Scolari to lead them at the 2014 World Cup — their first tournament on home soil since 1950 — he readily accepted. It would come close to ruining his reputation.
Under immense pressure from an expectant public, Scolari sat in the dugout inside a sold-out Estádio Mineirão watching as his side were humiliated 7-1 by Germany in the semifinals. He called it “the worst day of my life” and worldwide ridicule followed. As well as deep-rooted infrastructural problems in the Brazilian football association, it was widely acknowledged that home advantage had turned negative. With passions running high, players had lost their composure.
Scolari is characteristically bullish whenever the subject is brought up — which it always is. “You journalists,” he said, shaking his head. “How many times have Brazil reached the World Cup semifinals since 2002? Only once, just that one time.
“In my career, I had 95 percent good things and 5 percent bad things. I prefer to look at the good things, but a lot of people prefer to look at the bad. My life continued after 7-1, but for a lot of people it stopped with that game.”
As coach of the host nation at the previous World Cup, Scolari is well positioned to comment on what awaits Russia this summer. The hosts of the 2018 event will kick it off on June 14 against Saudi Arabia. Unlike in 2014 when Brazil were ranked third in the world and played against a Croatia side filled with players from Europe’s top leagues, Russia are the second-lowest ranked team at this year’s competition at No. 66 — four places above Saudi Arabia at No. 70. Neither team has what can be regarded as a star player.
“It’s the opening match and everyone expects Russia to be organized and wonderful on the pitch, but often that does not happen,” said Scolari, whose Brazil side went a goal behind to Croatia before recovering to win 3-1.
“The most important match of the group stage is the first game and the tension will be massive. If Saudi Arabia know how to work this situation well, they can complicate things a lot for the hosts.
“The pressure is much greater for Russia because the home fans expect the national team to play very well, so they are going to try to pressure their opponents from the start to try and get their fans on their feet. Saudi though, will be in a position to control the game.”
Scolari said he has watched the Green Falcons occasionally in the past few months and believes them capable of “withstanding Russian pressure,” although if Juan Antonio Pizzi’s side are to qualify to the knockout stage, he added, they must avoid defeat in Moscow.
“For me, in this group, the strongest to qualify are Uruguay and then Russia, for being the host country,” he said, leaning back in his seat.
“If Saudi Arabia can get through that first game with at least a draw, they can approach the second game against Uruguay knowing no matter what happens they will be alive until the final round. Then when they reach that third match against Egypt, you’re looking at an Arab ‘clásico’ so anything can happen.
“Saudi can get a good result, but it will be difficult. To qualify for the second phase of a World Cup, you have to play for every point. For example, at Euro 2016, Portugal qualified with three draws, so at a World Cup sometimes the small details can decide a place in the last 16.”
Scolari, meanwhile, will be watching from afar, pondering his next step after three successful seasons in China in which he won seven titles in three seasons with Guangzhou Evergrande, including the AFC Champions League.
Unsurprisingly, he has offers. And for a man who revealed in 2008 that he was accepting a lucrative offer from Chelsea because “I don’t want to work as a coach until I’m 70,” he gives no hint of calling it a day quite yet.
“I have open doors in many places,” said Scolari, 69.
“United Arab Emirates, China … I even had a proposal to train a team in the English Championship. I do not mind training a team in a second division, so long as the project is good. I just want a good project next.”
Polishing his considerable silverware will likely not suffice.
Luiz Felipe Scolari traces his success all the way back to breakthrough spell in Saudi Arabia
Luiz Felipe Scolari traces his success all the way back to breakthrough spell in Saudi Arabia
- 'I owe a lot to Saudi Arabia because it was the first country that gave me the opportunity to be a coach abroad'
- Former Brazil boss believes the Green Falcons need to get at least a draw in first World Cup game
No place like Dome: Boxing back at Tyson-Douglas Tokyo upset venue
- Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery
- Monday’s crowd at the Tokyo Dome will expect Inoue to maintain his perfect record against Nery, but he will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson
TOKYO: When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated around the world.
Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990.
Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery.
The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just the second man to become undisputed world champion at two different weights since the four-belt era began in 2004. American Terence Crawford was the first.
But Inoue faces a stern test against the 29-year-old Nery, a former two-division world champion.
Inoue will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson, who arrived in Tokyo more than three decades ago with an aura of invincibility.
“Tyson’s status at that time was of being this godlike, completely unbeatable heavyweight,” James Sterngold, who reported on the fight for the New York Times, told AFP.
“He was really one of a kind — he was up on a pedestal that only a small number of athletes can occupy.”
Tyson was expected to win so easily that Sterngold, a news reporter based in Tokyo, was asked to cover the fight because the New York Times did not want to send a specialist boxing writer “halfway around the world for 90 seconds.”
Veteran Japanese boxing writer Shoji Tsue, who has covered the sport for 50 years, was also expecting a quick win for Tyson, even after seeing the American knocked down by sparring partner Greg Page in training.
“Everyone thought that because Tyson was Tyson, there was no way he would lose, no matter what happened,” said Tsue.
Tyson’s autobiography said he had been too busy partying to prepare properly for Douglas, who had an unspectacular win-loss-draw record of 29-4-1 (19 KOs).
Sterngold interviewed Tyson in his hotel room days before the fight and found him wrapped in a bedsheet watching martial arts movies.
“He seemed like he didn’t really care,” said Sterngold. “He clearly wasn’t in a revved-up frame of mind.”
The fight began at lunchtime and Tsue said the Tokyo Dome was “surprisingly quiet,” with fans anticipating another Tyson demolition job.
But Douglas began to control the fight, and although he was knocked down in the eighth, he got up and sent Tyson sprawling to the canvas two rounds later.
The world heavyweight champion failed to beat the count, with those watching trying to make sense of what they had just seen.
“I was sitting in the press seats closest to the ring, and Tyson went down right in front of me,” said Tsue.
“My heart was thumping. I wondered if it was possible that something like this could even happen?“
The drama was not over as promoter Don King rushed to reporters and tried to convince them that Tyson had not lost.
“He told us that we shouldn’t file stories because it was not a knockout, that the ref had miscounted and that King had already affirmed that it was going to be overturned,” said Sterngold.
“This story was very fishy, but it added to the drama.”
King failed to have the result thrown out and Tyson never regained his superhuman status.
Monday’s crowd at the Tokyo Dome will expect Inoue to maintain his perfect record against Nery, but he will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson.
Nery said the choice of venue could be an omen.
“If Mike Tyson can lose his unbeaten record there, then so can Naoya Inoue,” Nery said recently at his training camp.
Tsue predicted a Inoue victory but warned that the Mexican, who has a 35-1 record with 27 KOs, was capable of an upset.
Inoue was, he said, the right man to bring boxing back to the historic stadium.
“There hadn’t been any boxers who would have been a good fit for a match at the Tokyo Dome before,” said Tsue.
“And if Inoue wasn’t around, there wouldn’t be any world title fights at the Tokyo Dome for a while yet.”
Celtics incinerate Heat to advance, Mavs trounce Clippers
- Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 25 points apiece to lead Boston, who barely noticed the absence of the injured Kristaps Porzingis
- Boston will now face either the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers or fifth seeds Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cleveland lead that series 3-2
The Boston Celtics crushed the Miami Heat 118-84 to complete an emphatic 4-1 series victory Wednesday and book their place in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
The postseason top seeds, who were upset by Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference finals, avenged that loss in spectacular fashion with a one-sided wire-to-wire rout at the TD Garden.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 25 points apiece to lead Boston, who barely noticed the absence of the injured Kristaps Porzingis.
The Celtics threw down the gauntlet in the first quarter, racking up a whopping 41 points to open up a commanding 18-point advantage.
They extended that lead to 22 points by half-time, and kept up the pressure in the third quarter to lead 98-66 heading into the final frame.
Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla could afford to rest his frontline players for the fourth with the game effectively won against an injury-hit Miami team missing Jimmy Butler and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Mazzulla said the Celtics had not been thinking about last year’s series loss to Miami.
“I don’t really worry about what happened last year,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day I liked how we approached the series, regardless of who they were playing.
“It had an intentionality to it, had attention to detail, and had a consistent physicality,” he added.
“And that’s the most important thing, regardless of who we’re playing. We wake up tomorrow and we’ve got to do it all over again versus another team.”
Boston will now face either the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers or fifth seeds Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cleveland lead that series 3-2.
The Celtics advance brimming with confidence after ruthlessly taking care of eighth-seeded Miami in five games.
White’s 25-point haul included five three-pointers while Jayson Tatum added 16 points including 12 rebounds with three assists.
Sam Hauser added 17 points off the bench while Jrue Holiday also cracked double figures with 10 points.
In Wednesday’s other playoff game, Luka Doncic delivered a 35-point performance as the Dallas Mavericks thrashed the Los Angeles Clippers 123-93 on the road to take a 3-2 series lead.
The 30-point margin of defeat was the Clippers’ heaviest ever NBA playoff loss.
Dallas, who can clinch the series with victory in game six back in Texas on Friday, pulled away toward the end of the first half to open up a 56-46 lead at the break.
They extended that advantage to 20 points after outscoring Los Angeles 33-23 in the third quarter and piled on in the fourth to open up a 32-point advantage at one stage.
Doncic finished with 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Maxi Kleber added 15 from the bench. Kyrie Irving had a relatively quiet night with 14 points.
“In the playoffs it doesn’t matter if you win by one point or you win by 50 point — but it’s still a good win,” Doncic said afterwards.
“But the job is not done. We’ve got one more we need to win. We’re gonna get ready for next game.”
The Clippers were left licking their wounds after a humiliating loss that saw their offense make just nine of 35 attempted three-pointers, and 33 of 87 from the field.
Paul George and Ivica Zubac led the scoring with a meagre 15 points each, while James Harden added just seven points and Russell Westbrook six from the bench.
“We didn’t play our best game, we understand that collectively. We’ll be better for game six,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
“Overall we weren’t good on both sides of the basketball and just had a bad day.”
Asked what he attributed Harden’s poor performance to, Lue replied: “Being human. He’s allowed to have a bad game.”
World Cup cricket ‘square’ arrives in New York after trip from Florida
- Ten cricket pitches prepared in Florida are being installed in a new stadium built for next month’s T20 World Cup
- New York winter conditions mean grass needed to be grown in warmer Florida before being transported and installed
MIAMI: Ten cricket pitches have completed their journey up the East Coast of the United States from Florida to New York state and are being installed in a new stadium built for next month’s T20 World Cup.
The “drop in pitches” have been prepared in Florida since December and were recently transported by 20 trailer trucks up the I-95 highway to the venue in Long Island.
The surfaces, which will soon be used for games including the highly-anticipated clash between cricket giants India and Pakistan, were developed by Australian Damian Hough, curator of the Adelaide Oval.
Winter conditions in New York meant that the grass needed to be grown in the warmer climate of Florida before being transported and installed.
Hough said the journey from the base in Boynton Beach, Florida, to Nassau County in New York state, took over 24 hours, with regular stops for checks and hydration of the grass.
“From a turf perspective, we made sure that there was no weather or elements getting on them with regards to wind or rain. They’ve come through, the ones we’ve received so far, we couldn’t be happier, they’ve come through in flying colors,” Hough said.
The condition of a cricket pitch, also known as a wicket or track, has a crucial bearing on the game, impacting the speed and bounce of the ball and the degrees of spin or movement off the seam of the ball that can be utilized by bowlers.
Chris Tetley, head of events for the International Cricket Council — organizers of the World Cup that will be co-hosted by the United States and several Caribbean nations — said the pitch production had been a huge logistical challenge for the companies involved.
“It’s been an impressive piece of logistics that has gone into moving 10 pitches, on 20 trucks, plus backup trucks, with the route planning, the timing through, I can’t remember how many different states,” Tetley said.
“The permissions to take out agricultural materials through different states, traffic considerations, timing over bridges and we wanted to make sure the trays are out of the ground for as short a time as possible — extremely, extremely impressive,” he added.
The temporary 34,000 capacity stadium at Eisenhower Park has already been built with stands and hospitality areas already in place and the outfield has been put in place.
Hough said the surface is likely to be a typical of the kind used for T20 matches, where fans expect to see big shots from the batsmen.
“Our ambition is to produce pitches along the lines where they’re good quality pitches, minimal spin, minimal seam and ball coming onto the bat and let the players play the shot,” he said.
The first World Cup game at the venue will feature Sri Lanka v South Africa on June 3 but organizers are planning some test events before then.
Pakistan to announce T20 squad for England, Ireland series today as World Cup looms
- Pakistan will face Ireland in three T20Is from May 10-14, England in four T20Is from May 22-30
- Pakistan will use both series to prepare for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 slated for June 2024
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it would announce the national T20 squad for Pakistan’s upcoming away series against Ireland and England today, Thursday, with exactly a month to go before the T20 World Cup kicks off in June.
Pakistan will play three T20Is against Ireland in Dublin from May 12-14 before they take on 2022 World Champions England from May 22-30 in a four-match series.
The series will be an important one for Pakistan and England as both prepare for the T20 World Cup scheduled to kick off from June 2 in the US and West Indies. Pakistan’s matches against England will be played at Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff and The Oval.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board will hold a media conference at the Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday to announce Pakistan men’s cricket team for the tours of Ireland and England,” the PCB said in a press release.
The announcement will be made by the Men’s National Selection Committee at 11:15 a.m., the board said.
Skipper Babar Azam’s side last week won their fifth T20 match against New Zealand in Lahore by nine runs to draw the series 2-2.
Pakistan will begin their campaign for the T20 World Cup against the United States on June 6 before facing India in New York for a high-voltage clash.
Schedule for Ireland, England series:
10 May – v Ireland, 1st T20I, Dublin
12 May – v Ireland, 2nd T20, Dublin
14 May – v Ireland, 3rd T20I, Dublin
22 May – v England, 1st T20I, Leeds
25 May – v England, 2nd T20I, Birmingham
28 May – v England 3rd T20I, Cardiff
30 May – v England, 4th T20I, The Oval
Fuellkrug outshines Mbappe to hand Dortmund Champions League advantage over PSG
- Dortmund, who had already lost and drawn against PSG this season in the group stage, can continue to dream of a return to Wembley 11 years after their last Champions League final
- Dortmund manager Edin Terzic said pre-match PSG were “built to win the Champions League” since the Qatari takeover a decade ago
DORTMUND, Germany: Niclas Fuellkrug gave Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League semifinal first leg on Wednesday as the journeyman striker outshone superstar Kylian Mbappe on the night.
Seeking a return to the final for the first time since 2013, the 1997 winners were dogged and determined, outmuscling their heavily favored opponents in front of more than 80,000 fans.
Fuellkrug, playing in his first Champions League season at the age of 31, collected a lofted pass from center-back Nico Schlotterbeck in the 36th minute and blasted a low shot into the left corner of the net.
PSG, led by Kylian Mbappe, hit the post twice in quick succession early in the second-half but could not break through.
“I think we today showed a classic team performance. Each helped the other to win the game. We needed a bit of luck a couple of times, but we can be very satisfied with our performance,” said long-serving center-back Mats Hummels.
“It was a very satisfying, very grown-up performance from us.”
Dortmund, who had already lost and drawn against PSG this season in the group stage, can continue to dream of a return to Wembley 11 years after their last Champions League final.
Despite the setback, however, PSG will remain confident of overturning the deficit at home next week against a side they thoroughly outclassed at their home venue in September.
“The Parc (PSG’s stadium) and our supporters are giving us hope for the second leg, and we know we can do much better,” PSG captain Marquinhos told Canal.
Dortmund manager Edin Terzic said pre-match PSG were “built to win the Champions League” since the Qatari takeover a decade ago.
Nowhere was the contrast between the two clubs greater than PSG’s global superstar Mbappe, playing in his last season for his hometown club, and journeyman Dortmund striker Fuellkrug, who was playing second-division football this time two years ago.
Spurred on by a passionate home crowd who booed and whistled every Mbappe touch, Dortmund had the best of the opening stages, Jadon Sancho shining down the right flank.
Marcel Sabitzer had Dortmund’s best chance of an opener after 14 minutes, blasting straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma from a tight angle.
The opener came after 36 minutes thanks to some superb old-school forward play from Fuellkrug.
Center-back Schlotterbeck had the ball well in his own half and thought about a safe pass back to the ‘keeper but instead punted it forward, with only Fuellkrug aware of the idea.
The striker controlled the ball with one touch and drilled a low shot past a helpless Donnarumma.
Fresh from wrapping up the Ligue 1 title at the weekend, PSG had few chances despite their attacking riches in the opening half, registering zero shots on target.
The visitors however sprung to life after half-time, Mbappe rattling the inside of one post seconds before former Dortmund wing-back Achraf Hakimi rattled the inside of the other.
PSG should have equalized after 56 minutes, Marquinhos curled a beautiful pass through a crowded Dortmund box but Fabian Ruiz’s diving header went wide.
Another former Dortmund player Ousmane Dembele blasted over right in front of goal with 10 minutes remaining.
The impressive Sancho laid on an excellent pass for Julian Brandt with moments left but Dortmund’s hopes of a second were snuffed out by some desperate PSG defending.
The victory, along with Tuesday’s 2-2 draw between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the other semifinal, guarantees Germany rather than England or France an extra Champions League place for next season.
That has already secured Dortmund’s place in the competition next season.
