Scolari named Brazil coach for 2014 World Cup

SAO PAOLO - Luiz Felipe Scolari has been appointed as Brazil manager for a second time. The former Chelsea and Portugal boss led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title in Japan and South Korea.

Friday, November 30, 2012
Luiz Felipe Scolari.

SAO PAOLO - Luiz Felipe Scolari has been appointed as Brazil manager for a second time. The former Chelsea and Portugal boss led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title in Japan and South Korea.Scolari, 64, replaces Mano Menezes, who was dismissed last week, and will now lead his country into the 2014 World Cup on home soil.Carlos Alberto Parreira has been named as technical director. Scolari’s first game in charge is scheduled to be a friendly away to England in February.The Brazil Football Federation stated they were looking for "new methods and new planning” when they sacked Menezes last week, just two days after Brazil won the Superclasico de las Americas against Argentina.Brazil’s failure to win gold at London 2012 had put the coach under pressure along with defeat to Paraguay in the last eight of last year’s Copa America.Scolari was without a job since leaving struggling Palmeiras in September. The club were relegated to the second division of the Brazilian league after his departure.He recently turned down offers to coach Brazilian sides Gremio and Cruzeiro and the Russian national team. Scolari lasted just eight months as manager of Chelsea after joining in July 2008.His appointment as Brazil manager comes two days before the draw for next year’s Confederations Cup, also to be hosted in Brazil, in Sao Paulo.