Scolari back as Gremio coach
SAO PAULO: Luiz Felipe Scolari was named coach of Gremio on Tuesday, only three weeks after leading Brazil to their most embarrassing World Cup result, a recordequalling 1-7 defeat against Germany.
“The commander is back,” Gremio said on their Facebook page.
“Felipao (Big Phil) is the new coach,” added the Porto Alegre club where Scolari first made his name during the mid-1990s with a successful, but often physical, team.
Scolari, who led his country to their fifth World Cup title triumph in 2002, officially parted company with the national team on July 14, one day after the end of the competition in which they finished fourth.
He had returned for a second stint as Brazil’s coach in November 2012, saying his team had “a duty” to win a sixth crown on home soil.
But despite reaching the semi-finals, they did not look capable of coping with the pressure, and capitulated in an astonishing defeat to Germany in Belo Horizonte on July 8 after conceding five goals in 18 minutes in the first half.
It was their worst World Cup defeat, and equalled the margin of their record 6-0 loss to Uruguay in 1920. Brazil went on to lose 0-3 to Netherlands in the third-place playoff, a result that would also have been unthinkable for them a few days earlier.
Scolari, who led Portugal to the Euro 2004 final and a World Cup semi-final in 2006, had a brief spell at Gremio in 1987 and returned in 1993 for a much more successful fouryear spell.
He turned Gremio into one of the most feared and ruthless teams in South America, winning the Libertadores Cup in 1995 and the Brazilian championship the following year.
Scolari will replace Enderson Moreira, who was fired on Sunday after his side lost at home to Coritiba in the Brazilian championship.
Gremio are 10th in the 20team table, with 19 points from 12 games. – Reuters LONDON: Steven Gerrard says the slip that arguably ended Liverpool’s title hopes and England being knocked out the World Cup in the group stages have contributed to “probably the worst three months of my life”.
Speaking on Liverpool’s tour of North America, he addressed the moment when he lost his footing against Chelsea in late April, allowing Demba Ba to open the scoring.
The Blues went on to win 2-0, a result that effectively ended Liverpool’s push for a first title since 1990 as well as Gerrard’s hopes of a Premier League crown, the only club trophy that eludes him.
“Where do I rank it?
It’s probably the worst three months of my life. There is nothing else to say really, is there?” the 34-year-old said in New Jersey.
“You get a support network around you of the people you are close to. That’s been the case since day one, people who have watched me since before