Scolari the English FA's preferred choice

SOCCER/Appointment of England coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari will not be introduced as England manager until after the World Cup finals, even if the Football Association secures his agreement to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson before the tournament begins on June 9th. Matt Scott reports.

Although the FA believes it is less than a week away from confirming Scolari's appointment with a signed contract, the Brazilian will not be seen at Soho Square until he has completed his World Cup duties with Portugal. That means the media caravans of England and Portugal will track his every move, with the pressure reaching a crescendo if the two countries' teams meet in the quarter-final in Gelsenkirchen on July 1st.

This suggests that the FA will suffer exactly what it hoped to avoid when it set itself a pre-World Cup finals deadline to appoint a manager. The fear that every press conference during what might be a 29-day run in Germany will be hijacked with questions about the new man may now become a reality.

More positively, though, it will provide an insight into Scolari's capacity to withstand the media intrusion that comes with the England manager's position. If the events of recent days are any indication, he will simply ignore the spotlight.

The FA's chief executive Brian Barwick returned from his 24-hour trip to Lisbon yesterday afternoon to confirm that his organisation had turned its sights on the 2002 World Cup's winning coach. "I think it is well evidenced now that we were in Lisbon, speaking to Felipe Scolari, as part of the process of recruiting the next coach, and that process continues," he said.

Yet the 57-year-old Scolari, who four days ago was insisting he had not met anyone from the FA despite it being public knowledge that he had attended two interviews, would only say yesterday "I am working; I am continuing in my job," when he was accosted by reporters outside a Lisbon restaurant. In those interviews Scolari made a persuasive case for his tactical acumen and man-management skills - as well as his much-maligned grasp of the English language - and emerged as the outstanding candidate.

"We understand that there are people who want an English coach," said an FA insider. "But you have to go for the best person for the job. (Scolari) clearly performed very well at interview; he impressed people who didn't expect to be impressed."

There remain several variables that could stand in the way of his replacing Eriksson after July 31st, however, not least the fact that he has yet to give the FA a firm commitment. There have been discussions about a contract and an incentive-related salary but it is believed that even the duration of his tenure has yet to be finalised.

It is also still unclear whether the issue of Portuguese consent was ever resolved. The FA claims to have secured, in February, the permission of the Portuguese football federation to pursue Scolari but on Wednesday its chairman Gilberto Madail, citing a gentlemen's agreement between the two associations, said he did not believe his national coach had met the English FA.

The FA, however, would consider that to be of less import than the ultimate acquisition of its favoured candidate and Scolari is expected to be ratified next Thursday as the best candidate by the FA's main board, whose approval is required before a contract can be offered.

The FA has invited further criticism of its process of finding the next manager by leaving the unsuccessful candidates to learn the bad news from the newspapers. Nobody from Soho Square has been in touch with Steve McClaren, Alan Curbishley, Martin O'Neill or Sam Allardyce, an oversight which has gone down badly with at least one of the shortlisted men.

Scolari's prospective appointment has divided opinion and the dissenters made their voices heard yesterday. Former England striker Gary Lineker was among those to express concern.

"I'm surprised that they've gone for Scolari," Lineker said. "He's got great credentials by winning the World Cup, but he did it with Brazil - my granny could probably have managed Brazil to World Cup success. He clearly knows his stuff but it's the difference culturally and (in) the football between Brazil and England that worries me. It will take him three or four years just to work out the crazy game we play."