Mikey Stafford reports for TheScore.ie from Fortaleza
LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI has urged Portugal not to lose faith after their 4-0 defeat at the hands of Germany this afternoon, reminding the country of how he guided them to the final of Euro 2004 after they lost their opening match to Greece.
Portugal were torn asunder by Joachim Low’s team in Salvador and face a tough task to escape a strong group that also features Ghana and the United States.
However Brazil coach Scolari, speaking on the eve of the Selecao’s second Group A match against Mexico, urged Paulo Bento and his players to stay the course.
After winning the 2002 World Cup with Brazil Scolari took charge of hosts Portugal for the European Championships two years later. After losing the opening match to eventual winners Greece, Portugal beat Russia and great rivals Spain to reach the quarter-finals.
They eventually lost the final 1-0 to Greece after beating England on penalties in the quarter-finals and the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
Scolari, who saw Germany’s first three goals before having to take his place at the press conference, reminded Portugal of their exploits 10 years ago.
“Regarding the defeat, I would like to remind my friends in Portugal that we lost the first match in the European Championships, won the other two and went to the final.
“Once again, they need to stop, restructure and play the next match. Go on to their next victory,” said Scolari. “They still have a good chance.”
Scolari has worries of his own ahead of the meeting with Mexico in Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza, one worry in particular being the fitness of Hulk. The Zenit St Petersburg attacker did not travel to the stadium with the squad to train this evening, choosing to remain in the team’s hotel and nurse his injured calf.
“Hulk was not going to do anything here,” explained Scolari. “He would not run, he would not participate, so he does not need to come.”
Captain Thiago Silva admitted losing Hulk would be unfortunate but the Paris St Germain defender had confidence whoever replaced him would be up to the task.
“He would be a big loss for us but I believe Felipao has a list of 23 players and any of them can be on the team.”
