Luiz Felipe Scolari

A rugged defender during his playing days, Scolari's big break as a coach came when he was appointed as manager of Gremio in 1993. He took them to the Brazilian Cup in his first year, and added a league title in 1996 

Success at Gremio led to Scolari being offered the manager's job at Palmeiras in 1997. He chalked up a second Copa Libertadores title, but ominously lost the 1999 Intercontinental Cup to Man Utd later that year. Chelsea will hope he learnt his lesson from that defeat

With Brazil's bid to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in real jeopardy, Scolari was drafted in as national coach in 2001. Despite losing his first game to Uruguay, he successfully saved a nation's blushes by gettingt them to the finals in Japan and South Korea

Scolari's Brazil may have been blessed with an astonishing array of talent, but plenty of managers have struggled to make a team out of a collection of individual geniuses. Big Phil had no such problems, fashioning a deadly three-man attack of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Ronaldo

Scolari's team were by far the best side at the 2002 World Cup. After overcoming Sven Goran Eriksson's England in the quarter-finals, Brazil claimed the trophy for the fifth time with a 2-0 victory over Germany in the final. 

Scolari's success at the World Cup saw him headhunted by Portugal, who were desperate to attract a top manager capable of winning Euro 2004, which the country would be hosting

Scolari got Portugal all the way to the final of Euro 2004 - masterminding another quarter-final victory over England on the way - before meekly losing to the unfancied Greeks in the final. In this picture, Scolari is being comforted by Portuguese footballing legend Eusebio

When the FA decided that Scolari was the man to succeed Sven Goran Eriksson in 2006. they made the mistake of announcing it to the public before they had his signature on a contract. After 48 hours of being chased around by the English tabloid press, Big Phil changed his mind and announced he would be staying with Portugal

Little more than a month after snubbing the FA, Scolari completed a personal hat-trick of quarter-final victories over the England. His Portugal side edged out the Three Lions 3-1 penalties - but only after Wayne Rooney's controversial sending-off

Scolari's volcanic temper has been known to get the better of him - just ask Serbia's Ivica Dragutinovic. This impressive left hook landed Big Phil with a four-match touchline ban from UEFA, although it was later reduced on appeal

Scolari celebrates his team's 3-1 win over the Czech Republic at Euro 2008, just hours before the announcement that he would be taking over as Chelsea manager after the end of the tournament

Scolari receives a round of applause from the Portuguese squad after breaking the news of his imminent departure to Chelsea at a team meal following the victory over the Czechs