Portugal behind Big Phil

Scolari, it is said, is prepared to back his opinions with fists if required while Eriksson, you feel, would think twice before confronting Nancy.

Back in Brazil, where Scolari was first vilified and now deified, they call him 'Big Phil'.

In Sweden, it is not altogether clear what they call Eriksson, apart from Sven.

In England, some have said that Scolari looks like a hybrid of Gene Hackman and Ken Livingstone. Others believe he resembles silent movie comedian Ben Turpin but without the cross eyes.

Whatever their differences, however, there are notable similarities between the two men who will stand head-tohead once more tomorrow night.

Both have been head-hunted to coach international teams away from their native countries and, more importantly, both are football pragmatists, rather than romantics.

Both have also had to come through sticky periods of intense criticism, bordering on the xenophobic at times.

Tomorrow, at the Estadio da Luz here in Lisbon, they will again put their burgeoning reputations on the line. As the match unfolds Scolari will be pacing his technical area animatedly and Eriksson, suited and booted as usual, will not be giving anything away, also as usual.

Whoever wins, and most of Portugal are coming round to believing Scolari's side now have the force with them, will then begin to believe that the Henri Delaunay trophy is within their grasp.

Whoever loses, and English fans don't believe that is now possible with the child prodigy Wayne Rooney playing up front for them, it will be a case of post-mortems and then a merciful holiday somewhere quiet.

Whatever happens in the next week and a half, however, Scolari's contract expires at the end of this tournament while Eriksson's just runs and runs.

Big Phil obviously likes a challenge and always has. Back in Brazil it all started well enough when he won the country's most prestigious club competition, the Libertadores Cup, with both Gremio and Cruzeiro.

As soon as he took over the national team in 2001, however, things began to go decidedly wonky.

The low point came in the Copa America where the mighty Brazil were knocked out by Honduras, the football equivalent of England being beaten by Guernsey. Typically of feisty Phil, though, he took it on the chin.

As Brazil went into a period of national mourning, Scolari stood before the assembled media, stuck out his chest and said: "I will go down in history as the Brazilian coach who lost to Honduras. That is pain."

The Brazilian public clamoured for his head, his children were sworn at in the playground.

But Scolari was not for turning. He would continue to do things his way.

'His way', in fact, turned out to be the right way.

After scrambling to the World Cup finals in 2002, Brazil won all seven of their matches, including a quarterfinal victory over England, on their way to winning the trophy for a record fifth time. Suddenly Scolari was hot property. He looked around Europe for possible jobs before succeeding Portugal caretaker manager Agostinho Oliveira in December 2002.

Again he faced hostility. As in England with Eriksson, there was a faction, still is a faction, which wanted the national coach to be a native of that country.

Last September, following a 3-0 defeat to close rivals Spain, the Portuguese fans waved white handkerchiefs and one newspaper, looking forward to Euro 2004, wrote: 'We will have beautiful stadiums but will we have a beautiful team?'

Again Scolari was brutally honest in the wake of defeat. "I was shown up tactically," he admitted. "The players carried out my instructions. It was I who was to blame."

All of which is forgiven and forgotten now following Portugal's Euro 2004 victory over Spain which ensured their qualification for the quarter-finals and a meeting with Eriksson's England. Scolari is a great one for team spirit but the bottom line is always results.

Samba soccer has no place in his psyche unless his team have won when the final whistle sounds.

Before the World Cup finals in 2002, he was asked about the beautiful game. He was after all a Brazilian and the questioner expected him to wax lyrical about style, class and entertainment.

"Beautiful game?" Scolari asked rhetorically. "What is the beautiful game? The one that Holland play?

"Holland are not going to Japan, are they? If I thought I was making mistakes I would put my donkey's ears on. I am not a donkey though, I am very intelligent."

Scolari thrives on tension and there will be plenty of that tomorrow night. Whether he is intelligent enough to outwit the quiet, studious Swede, is another matter.

We will know soon enough.