England vs. Portugal Another Scolari team could send England out By ROB LONGLEY -- Toronto Sun Sat, July 1, 2006

BERLIN -- In the months leading to the 2006 World Cup, the higher authorities of English football caused a fury with their plans to deal with Luiz Felipe Scolari.

If you can't beat him, sign him, they decided.

Big Phil, as he is called for his larger-than-life reputation, was pursued hotly to replace his outgoing England counterpart, Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Scolari ultimately spurned the Football Association, however, and today he will attempt to aim yet another well-measured boot to the hopes of English soccer.

The two rivals meet at Gelsenkirchen in a quarter-final that shapes up as an intriguing matchup.

So what does Scolari have in mind for his players as they look to advance to the semi-finals for the first time since 1966, when they coincidentally lost to England, who then went on to its only World Cup win?

"I'm going to tell them to enjoy it," Scolari said. "To enjoy the fact of being one of the best eight teams in the world, to enjoy being in a World Cup quarter-final.

"That's the main thing we want from (today)."

That's big bunk from Big Phil, of course. The main thing Scolari wants from today is to send England packing from a third successive major international tournament.

He did it two years ago when Portugal beat England in a shootout at the European championship. And four years ago, when Scolari was the big man for Brazil, he helped take the roar out of the Three Lions in a World Cup quarter-final.

Scolari has refined the talent that has been with Portugal's players for a long time and moulded them into contenders.

"We will play with fire in our belly," Scolari said. "If we talk about the Portuguese and English fighting spirit, then you can see that we're going to have an emotional game."

The English, meanwhile, have most of their followers wondering when they might put on a big show.

After each of their unimpressive victories, Eriksson has had to answer for their struggles, especially against opponents widely regarded as inferior.

But the opportunity is not lost on players such as captain David Beckham, who are champing at the bit to take England to a World Cup semi for the first time since 1990.

"To lead the team into another quarter-final is a very proud moment," Beckham said. "But I want to go further.

"I certainly don't want to stop at the quarter-final stage."