Just a few hours after his Portugal team had defeated the Czech Republic in Geneva to set up qualification for the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2008, Luiz Felipe Scolari was named as the new manager of Chelsea FC – a role that the Brazilian will take up on 1 July.

Club statement
Chelsea issued a statement on Wednesday night saying: “Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Luiz Felipe Scolari will be the club’s new manager from July 1, 2008.” A FIFA World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002, Scolari has held the reins of the Portugal team since 2003 and led them to the final of UEFA EURO 2004 and the last four of the 2006 World Cup. Scolari’s contract was due to end at the conclusion of the EURO and the hope of Portugal fans now is he will sign off with a flourish by guiding his team to their first European crown.

‘Great qualities’
Scolari, 59, will replace Avram Grant as Chelsea manager and the club’s statement added: “Felipe has great qualities. He is one of the world’s top coaches with a record of success at country and club level, he gets the best out of a talented squad of players and his ambitions and expectations match ours. He was the outstanding choice. Out of respect for his current role as head coach of the Portuguese national team, and to ensure minimum disruption to this work, there will be no further comment from Chelsea FC nor from Felipe about his new role until his employment with us commences.”

For 20 minutes, Luiz Felipe Scolari had the press room in the Stade de Geneve on tenterhooks. The Portugal coach, one of the most high profile names in the frame for the vacant Chelsea job, came in and read a prepared statement, thanking his players and the staff of his football federation. He then said he would close his press conference with another statement. To everyone present it smacked of a dignified, if slow, resignation speech.

However, the Brazilian did not reveal he was joining Chelsea yesterday; instead he left the door ajar. His contract runs out at the end of Euro 2008 and he is keeping his options open.

Scolari, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002, said: "I will work hard for Portugal to the end of the Euro. It might end in the first or second phase. I hope we will be in the final.

"What’s going to happen to me after the Euro, if I stay or go, concerns me and I’m not going to talk about it now. If I decide to stay or go I will make a declaration after the championship.

"If something happens during the Euro I’m not going to answer any questions. Things might go this way or that way but I’m here to work for this Euro. I started to work for Portugal and signed up for 2004, 2006 and 2008. I might sign again or I might leave.

”It’s a situation I’m going to examine, but I’m not going to answer this sort of question [about my future] or talk about it and I’m going to stay quiet. Euro, Euro Euro, my life revolves around that. I’m going to talk to my family and examine the possibilities, then I will decide."

Chelsea, though, may be moving closer a successor to manager Avram Grant. Bruce Buck, the club’s chairman, flew out of Heathrow early yesterday morning and admitted that Chelsea were closing in on a new manager. Buck refused to reveal his destination - there was a flight due to leave for Milan shortly afterwards - but when asked if Chelsea were closer to making an appointment, the American replied: "Yes I think we are," fuelling speculation that Roberto Mancini could be the next Chelsea manager.

Mancini, who left Inter Milan and was replaced by ex-Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho earlier in the week, was reported to have been spotted flying to London on Thursday, and remains the favourite to succeed Grant.

It is understood Chelsea plan talks with both Mancini and former Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard early next week and that an appointment could follow before next weekend.

Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to remain with AC Milan has forced Chelsea into a change of direction, and while Mancini has not been successful in Europe, his three Serie A titles make him the most successful Inter coach of the last 30 years.

Rijkaard is also viewed as a potential manager and, following Ancelotti’s snub, Chelsea will consider their options over the weekend before making an appointment within the next week.

The English Premier League will be the second most represented with 42 players, slightly ahead of Spain’s Primera División (41).
Clubs with most players at Euro 2008
10: Olympique Lyon
10: Panathinaikos
9: Bayern München
8: FC Barcelona
8: Galatasaray
8: Real Madrid
8: Werder Bremen
7: Arsenal
7: Chelsea
6: Hamburger SV
6: Liverpool
6: Steaua Bucuresti
6: VfB Stuttgart
6: Zenit St. Petersburg
Leagues with most players in Euro 2008 squads
56: Bundesliga, Germany
42: Premier League, England
41: Primera División, Spain
36: Serie A, Italy
29: Russian Football Premier League, Russia
24: Ligue 1, France
22: Super League, Greece
17: 1. Lig, Turkey
16: Bundesliga, Austria
13: Liga, Portugal
13: Liga I, Romania