Baden Baden: England's World Cup quarter-final with Portugal pitches them against the man behind their last two tournament exits who could have been their next manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari.
A mixture of fate and the fixture list has brought England face to face with Brazil's 2002 World Cup-winning coach, who turned his back on their top job two months ago citing media intrusion.
"I'd like to win again yet we're not dealing with a game between Eriksson and Scolari but a game between Portugal and England" - Scolari
The Football Association were actively pursuing the highly experienced Brazilian as a replacement for Sven-Goran Eriksson, who is stepping down after the finals in Germany.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick returned from Lisbon on April 27 after what proved to be his final meeting with Scolari in a positive mood, only for the Brazilian to announce he was pulling out the following day.
"I don't want this situation involving England because in two days during which I was not coach, I never agreed to anything, my life was invaded," Scolari said at the time.
"There are 20 reporters outside my house now. If that is part of another culture, it is not part of my culture."
Along with the intrusion was the fact that Scolari's contract with Portugal expires after the finals, while the FA wanted his future appointment sorted out before the tournament started.
A further sub-plot to Saturday's game in Gelsenkirchen is that the man subsequently chosen as Eriksson's successor, his current assistant Steve McClaren, will be on the bench.
Though he is not yet in charge, McClaren will clearly help with the planning and would not emerge unscathed if England suffered yet another defeat at Scolari's hands.
Their unhappy memories began in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, where Michael Owen gave England a 1-0 lead against Scolari's Brazil on a steamy day at Shizuoka.
Outsmarted by a side who enjoyed much of the possession despite being reduced to 10 men after Ronaldinho's red card, England went on to lose 2-1.
They had no better luck two years later in another quarter-final at Euro 2004 in Portugal.
Now in charge of the host nation, Scolari again found that keeping possession and making England chase shadows was a winning formula -- despite trailing to another goal by Owen, currently at home due to injury.
Portugal took control of the game and got their reward with Helder Postiga's 80th minute equaliser. They then took the lead in extra time before being pegged back at 2-2 and eventually winning a penalty shootout 6-5.
England, who were jeered by some of their fans at the halftime whistle in their 1-0 second round win over Ecuador, will at least know what to expect on Saturday although Scolari attempted to douse any notion this was getting personal.
"I'd like to win again yet we're not dealing with a game between Eriksson and Scolari but a game between Portugal and England," Scolari was quoted as saying by A Bola sports newspaper.
"It's not the coaches who beat the coaches but the teams that beat the teams."
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