Luiz Felipe Scolari keen to coach a national team at 2014 World Cup
Luiz Felipe Scolari says that he is eager to lead a national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in his homeland of Brazil.
The 61-year-old has enjoyed considerable success as a head coach of an international side, having led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. He also helped Portugal to reach the final of the UEFA 2004 European Football Championship.
He returned to club management following his stint with Portugal when he took over as boss of English Premier League giants Chelsea, before moving on to Uzbekistan outfit Bunyodkor and then returning to Palmeiras, where he was previously manager from 1997-2000
and with whom he won several trophies. However, Scolari is eager to return to the international arena.
He told FIFA's official website that: "My contract with Palmeiras runs out in 2012. After that I think I'll still be able to work with a national team in the qualifiers and then end my career at the 2014 World Cup in my home country.
'No competition is like the World Cup'
"There’s no other competition like the World Cup. That involvement you have with the other teams, the contact with opposing coaches, and the friendships you build up at the seminars and congresses is wonderful.
"But I’m definitely going to retire from coaching in 2014, whether I’m at the World Cup or not. I’m going to stay in football, maybe as a technical director or general manager, but I don’t want to be involved in the day-to-day, hands-on stuff I’m doing now."
Since taking over at Palmeiras in June, Scolari has led the club to tenth place in the Brazilian championship. They have claimed 47 points this season, and lie ten points adrift of leaders Fluminense and Cruzeiro — another of Scolari's former clubs.
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