BBC SPORT | Football | Scolari quits while ahead



By Tim Vickery BBC Sport Online

The Brazilian championship has just got underway and, along with the fight to be the top team and the struggle to be the leading scorer, another contest is also taking place.

The battle to succeed Luiz Felipe Scolari has just begun.

Brazil's World Cup winning coach announced on Friday that he will be stepping down.

Getting through South America's World Cup qualification campaign is harder than winning the competition itself

The decision came as no surprise, for two reasons.

Firstly because his recent behaviour had already given heavy hints that he was ready to bring his 14 month reign to a close.

He said that Ronaldo would never again be 100% fit, and that he was prone to acting like a spoilt child.

This was clear evidence that the partnership between coach and centre forward was unlikely to continue.

Moreover, Scolari has little to gain and plenty to lose by staying on.

He is on record as saying that getting through South America's World Cup qualification campaign is harder than winning the competition itself.

It is a view shared by Carlos Albero Perreira, Brazil's victorious coach in USA 94.

Brazil to reap benefits

In the next campaign Brazil's opponents will be even desperate than usual to inflict a defeat. Everyone wants to knock the world champions off their perch.

Brazil should qualify with some comfort - it is hard to imagine them plumbing the depths of incompetence they reached in the crawl to South Korea.

Wanderley Luxemburgo
Luxemburgo could return to the Brazil hot seat

But they will probably suffer a couple of defeats along the way.

And, although Scolari is currently a hero, in the hard world of Brazilian football a couple of defeats is all it would take to send him back to the coconut shy where the national team coach normally sits.

So he has taken the shrewd decision to quit while he is ahead, with his prestige intact.

And the path is now clear for ambitious coaches trying to make a name for themselves. Or even those trying to clear their name.

Wanderley Luxemburgo was the man in charge when the last qualifying campaign got underway.

Poor results and off-the-field scandals forced him out, but he makes no secret of his desire to return.

The scandals have not gone away, but even so he is being taken seriously as a candidate for the succession.

Luxemburgo is in charge of Palmeiras. Rivals for the Brazil job include his former assistant Oswaldo de Oliveira, now with Sao Paulo, and the man believed to be Scolari's own favourite, Tite of Gremio.

The man who succeeds Scolari will need plenty of luck

The moment is everything in Brazilian football. So much depends on who is doing well at the right time.

The new national team coach could be appointed in November, or the decision may be put back to early next year.

Brazilian football on the rise

It means that the prospective candidates have a tense few months ahead of them.

Eight different teams have won the Brazilian championship in the past 10 years.

It is a very difficult tournament to predict. Forces are notoriously balanced.

The chances of Luxemburgo, Oliveira and Tite could sink together with the performances of their clubs. And new rivals could emerge.

The man who succeeds Scolari will need plenty of luck and the striker's sixth sense for being in the right place at the right time.

Then, once he has got the job, his problems will have only just started.


	Links to more Football stories