Scolari accusations of fraud

When he was manager of the national team, Luis Filipe Scolari was hailed as a national hero, taking Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, the semi finals of the World Cup in 2006, and of course to the quarter finals of Euro 2008.

But once he announced that he was leaving to manage Chelsea, citing money as one of the reasons, then the accusations begin.

Unsurprisingly the Portuguese FA came out and accused him and Chelsea of upsetting the team after the match with the Czech Republic, causing them to lose against Switzerland. This was despite Portugal having got through the group stages, and the team against Switzerland being woefully under strength.

Now a Lisbon paper, Sol, has accused Scolari of salting away funds received from a business venture in 2006 in an offshore account, and not declaring income to the Financas (the Portuguese Inland Revenue). As a part of a long-running national fraud investigation, Operação Furacão, the Departamento Central de Investigação e Acção Penal (DCIAP) are investigating. All Scolari has said is that he has fulfilled his obligations towards the Financas, and nothing illegal or fraudulent has taken place. No details of the amounts are available.

Whether this will cast a shadow over his deal with Chelsea is not known, this sounds more like a small circulation newspaper digging around for dirt now that Scolari has announced his departure. I can't imagine this ever having been reported if Scolari had not announced his intention to leave. I also found it ironic that it was a paper called the Sun that started this story.

David v Goliath, again?

Tonight, the underdogs Turkey take in the mighty German behemoth in the first semi-final of Euro 2008. OK, a bit over dramatic, I think, but according to most pundits it looks as though the odds are in favour of a German victory.

Even the Portuguese, despite Germany beating Portugal in the quarter final, seem to be rooting for the Germans, so it'll be interesting to see the half-time reports on the news this evening. Will there be the thousands of people in the squares in Porto and Lisbon waving their German flags and cheering on the national team, or will it be a quiet Wednesday evening?

Personally, being English, I root for the underdog, so come on plucky Turkey, give 'em what for - as The Sun would say (if they weren't backing Germany also...) En buyuk, Turkiye, as they say: Turkey, the greatest.

Exclusive! - New Portugal Coach Spotted

Following the defeat of Portugal on Sunday, and the impending departure of Scolari at the end of Euro 2004 (or if Portugal are defeated by Germany on Thursday, whichever comes first), the Federação Portuguesa de Futebol (FPF) has wasted little time in searching for a successor.

In an exclusive, for the first time anywhere, we can reveal the new Portuguese coach. Spotted in Lisbon after the match against the Czech Republic, probably following a meeting with the FPF, the new coach was seen scouting out potential players.

Don't forget, you saw it here first...

The Sound of Silence

After several glorious days, weather-wise, last week, the omens were not good. It was a cloudy day here in Aveiro, with a light rain from time to time, and after the euphoria of the week everyone seemed a little jaded.

There was excitement about the match, of course, Portugal was through but Switzerland had failed to win a game, so it looked like a slam dunk (to mix sports metaphors). However, when the team came out there was a collective, 'huh?' What was Scolari up to, where was Ronaldo, or Simão, or any of his good players? OK, he's resting them, and besides it's only Switzerland.

Ninety minutes later, there was a stunned silence from the Portuguese fans, in fact after that ludicrous penalty we couldn't bear to watch any more. During the game, we were watching through our fingers, it was car-crash television, like watching Steve Carell at his most embarassing in The Office. At half-time, when the players came back onto the pitch, there was a shot of a clearly embarrassed Ronaldo waving to the crowd. Great, we thought, they're going to substitute their better players, but no.

With over 30 yellow cards, by the end of the game practically everyone had been carded apart from the goalies. The refereeing was appalling, each time a player fell, or dived, out came the yellow card. There were cards for dissent, cards for running in a funny way. The penalty was given for such a blatant dive, we wondered at first who was getting the card, and the Swiss players were congratulating each other on such a smart move. We were asking what on earth Scolari was up to. Even when Portugal was 1-0 down there was time to put in Ronaldo or Nuno Gomes, or any of his first team players. But no, he carried on playing a weak team, saving his better players for the quarter final match against the runners up of group B, whoever that is (probably Germany). It was like watching Switzerland play Beira Mar, or Sporting, the Portuguese team were so outclassed. The referee didn't help.

In the post-match press conference, Scolari apparently took on all of the responsibility himself. We were thinking that he was concentrating on all of the lolly he'd be making at Chelsea, but if I was Abramovich, I'd be wondering what the hell was going on.

Unlike the previous games, especially after the game with the Czech Republic, when the team guaranteed their place in the next round, there were no celebrations, no dancing in the streets or car horns blaring. There were just sullen people going home through the drizzling rain. Sad and alone.

Apparently that was not the only upset of the evening, as in a surprising twist Turkey beat the Czech Republic 3-2. So it looks like Turkey will be going through to the quarter finals instead of the Czechs. With a mistake from Cech costing them the game, it was not a good day for Chelsea.

Marcas Technorati: Euro 2008,football,Scolari,Portugal,Switzerland,losing,Ronaldo,Aveiro,penalty,soccer