No2 steps up for old pal Scolari
Monday, October 15, 2007
Article summary
Luiz Felipe Scolari's right-hand man Flávio Teixeira stepped into the breach and oversaw an important win as the Portugal head coach's suspension began.
Article body
Luiz Felipe Scolari's mantra is "the most important thing is always the team". In the first game of the Portugal coach's three-match suspension, his players proved exactly that – as did his technical staff.
Baku victory
The Brazilian was in the stands in Baku as first-half goals from Bruno Alves and Hugo Almeida gave Portugal a 2-0 win against Azerbaijan and a strong position in UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying Group A. But then Scolari's replacement on the bench was a man he knows he can trust, long-time right-hand man and compatriot Flávio Teixeira.
Aide-de-camp
The 56-year-old first linked up with Scolari in 1983, and in the next eleven years the pair worked together in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Japan and Brazil. Flávio Teixeira, nicknamed Murtosa, then went solo before the old partnership was revived to superb effect as Brazil won the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Portugal finished runners-up at UEFA EURO 2004™ and fourth at the 2006 World Cup.
'Always in control'
Flávio Teixeira was delighted with his first outing as an international head coach, yet was quick to share the credit with Scolari. "As agreed between myself and Scolari, we achieved our main goal which was to win. It was not a spectacular display but we got the job done. We were always in control and had several chances to score more goals. After they were reduced to ten men [on 29 minutes] we had more space to attack and in the second half we controlled the match. The players were outstanding."
Important decision
However, 'Murtosa' was responsible for one important call. "The decision to field Hugo Almeida was mine," he said. "Nuno Gomes was injured in the warm-up and it was just a question of deploying Hugo Almeida earlier than expected, because he was due to play as a substitute. This was not a debut for me in head coaching terms because I have worked alone in the past. I'm part of a team. We had to cope with a setback [Scolari's suspension] but the work was already done in advance. Now we must recover and prepare for the match in Kazakhstan." Victory on Wednesday would take Portugal three points clear of third-placed Finland with two games left.
