Brazil has reappointed a familiar face to take them to their own World Cup finals in 2014.
64-year-old Luiz Felipe Scolari is back in the dugout with the national team, as the Brazilian Football Federation look to him in an effort to return the glory days back to the country.
Brazil sit outside the top 10 in the FIFA World rankings in 13th place, below the likes of Greece, Colombia and Russia.
Despite beating Argentina recently, former boss Mano Menezes was sacked after the country’s failure to win Olympic gold in the summer in London and some lacklustre friendly performances.
However have Brazil got the right man for the job?
Former glory was an incentive
The Brazilian fans, media and the FA over in South America will be expecting better and more consistent results.
Menezes was on a rocky road once Brazil had been dumped out by Paraguay on penalties in the 2011 Copa America.
Defeat at Wembley to Mexico in the Olympics final in August all but sealed his fate. It summed up just how much the Brazilian team has fallen back in recent times, in comparison to the world heavyweights Spain, Germany and Argentina.
Scolari (pictured) led the last successful team to glory, spearheading Brazil to the 2002 World Cup in Japan/South Korea.
Without wanting to take too much away from his management skills in that tournament, he was helped by the goals that Ronaldo and Rivaldo scored throughout, combined with the exciting talent at the time in Ronaldinho.
He was one of the favourites to take over again, alongside the current Santos’ coach Muricy Ramalho.
You can understand why the Brazilian FA have turned to a manager who has had proven international success.
He took Portugal to the Euro 2004 final and fourth place at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.
Whatever way you look at it though, it does feel like a step back for such a talented nation.
Playing strength
The current Brazil squad has talent, they always have done.
The likes of Pato from AC Milan, Zenit St Petersburg’s Hulk, Chelsea lynchpin Ramires, expensive defender Thiago Silva and striker Leandro Damiao are among the players Scolari can choose from.
Let’s not forget the likes of Daniel Alves, David Luiz, Thiago Neves, Sandro, Oscar, Lucas Moura, Neymar, Kaka, Marcelo, Luisao, Ganso, Jadson, Lucas Leiva and Luis Fabiano.
As you can see, that is a strong playing squad but it is no match for what the Spanish and the Germans have at their disposal.
In 2002, Scolari managed to get the best out of the likes of Ronaldo, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo and Gilberto Silva and he did it well.
Unfortunately, too many of today’s Brazilian players are individuals – and don’t play as a team.
They imploded in the World Cup quarter-final in Port Elizabeth against Holland two years ago, costing Dunga his job.
The same happened in the Olympic final, which was almost certainly the death knell for Menezes as manager.
There is a wide pool of talent but Scolari will do well to mould it together into a winning side.
His track record might be good at international level but his club management skills in recent seasons have found him wanting.
Putting himself under pressure
He told reporters at his unveiling: “We have an obligation to win the World Cup.
“We are not the favourites to win it now, but we aim to become favourites as we are starting to see the results of our hard work.”
Scolari is already putting himself under great pressure to deliver. This is a coach who has seen his reputation be on the slide ever since he left the Portuguese job after Euro 2008.
His spell at Chelsea is best forgotten, not even lasting a year at Stamford Bridge.
It wasn’t much better at Bunyodkor, an unheralded outfit from Uzbekistan and even a return to his homeland wasn’t massively successful.
He might have won the Copa do Brasil with Palmeiras but they got relegated from the top division and Scolari’s services were dispensed with in September.
It seems remarkable that the Russian FA offered him the job as their manager in the summer but then again, that went to Fabio Capello – so you can see they don’t care about recent track records or ability.
Its okay to beat China 8-0, Iraq 6-0 and Japan 4-0 in the past three months but these sides should be being beaten comfortably, no matter what Brazilian side is fielded.
England will be his first serious opponents in a friendly international at Wembley in February 2013.
Luiz Felipe Scolari might not be the right man for the Brazilian national job but he has a mission now to undergo and a big one at that.
If he isn’t successful, his time as a worldwide manager will surely be at an end.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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