Scolari has his work cut out

The last two Brazil managers were sophisticated dressers, the type of men who wore shirts and ties and Italian shoes even when the plastic cups and bodily fluids came raining down from the stands.

So when new manager Luis Felipe Scolari stood up at a press conference last week wearing a tracksuit top, he was sending a message to football fans and players alike. In dispensing with the sharp suits so beloved of his predecessors, Emerson Leao and Wanderley Luxemburgo, the former petrol pump attendant was signalling his reign would be less about style and more about substance. There might still be plenty of spectacular ball players capable of helping Brazil qualify for the 2002 World Cup finals but Scolari made it clear they would not be the first names on his team sheet.

"Our objective is to qualify for the World Cup finals and we are going to play that way," said a characteristically determined Scolari. "The Brazilian team is going to play hard and play to win. A team of angels will be successful only in heaven."

Scolari might need some help from above if he is to turn the Brazil side into a team worthy of challenging for next year's World Cup. The former Cruzeiro manager has inherited a side demoralised by its worst ever run, rejected by an increasingly disenchanted public and badly lacking an inspirational captain, a young goal scorer and an established playing formation.

Since winning the Copa America in Paraguay in 1999, Brazil have lost to teams such as Mexico, Ecuador and Australia. Languishing in fourth place in the South American qualifying group, they are in danger of failing to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time in their history.

The latest embarrassment came at last week's Confederations Cup in Japan and Korea, where Brazil struggled through the qualifying stages only to lose 2-1 in the semi-final to a French side which, if they had taken their chances, could have scored six or seven. No matter that the tournament was of the Made in Disney kind, or that Leao's team was largely a second-string affair pulled together without the top names from either Brazil or Europe.

Many of Brazil's opponents were also not at their strongest and a defeat by Australia in the third-place play off game, coming after insipid draws against Canada and Japan in the group stages, was too much to take. Leao, the former World Cup goalkeeper appointed only last autumn, was summarily fired, informed while on a stop-over at Los Angeles airport. In his 11 games in charge, he used 47 players and won only four times.

Scolari was the overwhelming choice to succeed him. He had been tipped to replace Luxemburgo last autumn following Brazil's dismal performance at the Sydney Olympics but Scolari had just signed a lucrative contract with Cruzeiro and the job went to Leao instead. Now, with trophies proving hard to come by at Cruzeiro, the man who likes to be called Felipao, or Big Phil, accepted the new offer.

Scolari (52), coached provincial side Criciuma to the Brazilian Cup in 1991 and then repeated the feat with Gremio in 1994 and Palmeiras in 1998, feats which earned him a reputation as a cup specialist. He took both Gremio and Palmeiras to Copa Libertadores triumphs and only Manchester United prevented him from winning the 1999 World Club Championship, Sir Alex Ferguson's men defeating Palmeiras 1-0 in Tokyo.

An impressive motivator, Scolari is perhaps best known for his no-nonsense approach to the game and those who run it. He has punched reporters, insulted referees and linesmen and was once caught on tape telling his Palmeiras team to go out and intimidate a player who had scored against them in a previous match.

"Felipao is an excellent coach but he is not a marvel," said legendary Brazilian striker Tostao. "He is better than average but that's not saying much as the level is low. He is daring, restless and always looking for new solutions. His teams score a lot of goals, they attack and they are good at rehearsed moves. However, like a lot of modern trainers, Felipao adores mediocre players, hard men, people who will do his bidding and foul opponents."

Scolari did nothing to dispel that notion in discussing the first challenge of his reign, the crucial World Cup qualifier against Uruguay in Montevideo on July 1st. Scolari said he wanted a team of "bandits" to face the Uruguayans and recalled experienced European-based players like Antonio Carlos, Cafu and Roberto Carlos, all of whom missed the last qualifier, a disappointing 1-1 draw against Peru in Sao Paulo.

"We need people with character because it is going to be a war," Scolari said. "We have to treat this like the game of our lives."

Brazil desperately need to take something from the Uruguayans, one of their main rivals in the chase for the four automatic qualifying spots. With no more than five games remaining, Argentina are the only team sure of qualification, leaving Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Uruguay to battle it out for the remaining places.

If Brazil lose to Uruguay, they will fall to fifth place in the 10team group, out of the automatic qualifying spots. And with the fifth place side likely to face Australia in the play off for a World Cup spot, no one here relishes that prospect, especially in the light of last week's results.

The main problem for Scolari, like his predecessors, will be finding a goal scorer to play alongside the ageing Romario. Brazil have used more than a dozen strikers over the last two years and none has shown they have what it takes to replace the mercurial 35-year old. Leao's side scored just 12 goals in his 11 games and failed to find the net against mediocre teams like Canada and Japan.

Scolari has sought to remedy the problem by recalling Galatasaray's Mario Jardel and Bayern Munich's Elber for the Uruguay match. He has also brought back experienced midfielder Mauro Silva after three years in the international wilderness and invited striker Ronaldo to attend the training camp even though a knee injury has kept him out of the game for more than a year. His squad of 22 includes eight players who have played under him at club level.

Scolari has promised to follow the example of Argentina, far and away the best team in South America right now, and create a stable squad of about 30 players, therefore dispensing with the chopping and changing that marked Luxemburgo and Leao's squads.

"I want players to start behaving differently," he said. "We have to start enjoying what we do and start playing for the jersey. This can't just be about money."

Scolari, however, acknowledged time was not on his side. "We have an obligation to qualify," he said. "If we don't take that approach, we should be run out of Brazil."