Germany on Scolari's mind

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-17  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

GERMANY, potential rival for Portugal in Thursday's quarterfinal, has been in the back of Luiz Felipe Scolari's mind ever since Joachim Loew's three-time winner lost to Croatia.

Germany is a team whose tactics Scolari admires and said you could never write them off.

"Even in the hardest situation they defend their pride and make an effort and manage to recover," the Brazilian-born coach said after a second-string Portugal lost 0-2 to the Swiss in Basel.

"In the match last week, that was not typical of Germany, but if we have to face them we're going to face a better team than that which played against Croatia."

Scolari had a dig at zealous Austrian referee Konrad Plautz who booked four of his players in the match against the Swiss.

He said sarcastically that Plautz, who should have given Portugal an early penalty for a foul on Nani, was "very good, excellent" and wondered aloud whether his nationality meant favoritism towards potential quarterfinal rival Austria.

Asked about a possible second match with a host team, Austria, Scolari added: "Let everyone do their job, all I ask is that each one should do so correctly."

"The lesson I can draw (from the Swiss match) is that we had to win the first two matches, which we did," added Scolari.

Portugal beat Turkey 2-0 and Czech Republic 3-1.

Scolari now has three key defenders who will have to be careful not to get a second yellow card in the quarterfinal so as not to miss the semifinal if Portugal goes through.

Jose Bosingwa was booked against the Czechs and Paulo Ferreira and utility defender Fernando Meira, a regular substitute, against the Swiss. Also shown the yellow card against Switzerland were defenders Miguel and Jorge Ribeiro.

Scolari said he should have played all his reserves, not just eight, and none of his first choice players given the risk of bookings and injuries.

For Switzerland, it was a nice ending to a disappointing campaign. Hakan Yakin scored both the goals to give the co-host its first ever win at a European Championship.