Scolari comes out of retirement to coach Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro

SAO PAULO: Former Brazil and Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari came out of retirement on Friday to take charge of Atletico Mineiro.

The 74-year-old Scolari announced the end of his coaching career in November but has contracted with the Brazilian club for 18 months.

Soon after Athletico Paranaense informed that Scolari was leaving his job there as technical director, Atletico announced the signing with the coach who won the 2002 World Cup.

Last year, Scolari took Athletico Paranaense to the final of the Copa Libertadores, in which his team lost to Flamengo. He worked at the club last year from May to November and said he achieved all of his goals in football.

Scolari will take over at Atletico Mineiro from Argentine coach Eduardo Coudet, who left the job this week after bad results and public disagreements with club executives.

Scolari told The Associated Press in October that he no longer thought of himself as a coach. He has yet to comment about the deal with Atletico Mineiro.

Atletico said in a statement they signed Scolari due to his “gregarious profile” and success. The team was fourth in the Brazilian championship after 10 matches, six points behind leader Botafogo.

Atletico were knocked out of the Brazilian Cup this month and was close to achieving a spot in the knockout stage of the Copa Libertadores.

As well as his World Cup title with Brazil and two Copa Libertadores trophies, Scolari took Portugal to the final of the 2004 European Championship. A career low point came when Germany humiliated tournament hosts Brazil 7-1 in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup.