ISRAEL: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari says he would still be interested in coaching England

Record ID: 395688

  • Title: ISRAEL: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari says he would still be interested in coaching England
  • Date: 12th June 2007
  • Summary: SCOLARI WALKING INTO BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 27th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAA1NEC5XV7OL152RV9VR4652FS
  • Story Text: Portugal coach Scolari visits Israel in a bid to promote peace, says that maybe in the future he would coach England's national soccer team.
    World renowned soccer coach Luiz Felipe Scolari arrived in Israel on Monday (June 11) as a guest of the Peres Center for Peace, to promote peace and understanding among Israelis and Palestinians.
    "(I came here) to talk about football in life, in how football is important to bring stability," the Brazilian told a group of Israeli cyclists in the coastal Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
    "Big Phil" led Brazil to victory in the 2002 World Cup and currently coaching Portugal's national team.
    He took Portugal to 2006 World Cup finals where he finished fourth and rejected a move six weeks before the tournament to coach England after the finals were over.
    Scolari said he was not planning to take the English job for the time being but at the same time did not reject a future move.
    When asked if he regretted declining the coach job, the Brazilian replied: "No. It is not the time," and added: "In the future, maybe, but at this time no."
    When asked whether the large number of Brazilian players with the big European clubs had hurt the Brazilian national team, he said: "No, it does not disturb and it can only highlight the quality of the players who are exported, They come to Europe because of their quality. It does not affect because they play in top leagues and the Brazilian coach has players with lot of experience when he needs them."
    During his two-day visit Scolari addressed Israel's business and sports conference, met Israeli cyclists and was scheduled to hold a joint Palestinian-Israeli soccer match for youths in Jerusalem on Tuesday (June 10) and meet Israeli Vice Premier and frontrunner for the presidency Shimon Peres.
    The Peres Center for Peace also plans to host Real Madrid for a friendly match with an Israeli-Palestinian team on June 19.
    A spokesman of the center said that the sports activists were aimed at promoting peace between Israeli and Palestinians, bridge national and political gaps, and show that good relations can be built among both sides.
    "I realised that through football we can achieve much more peace, kindness and love than in any other sports," Scolari added.
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