Scolari - I did my best

Chelsea-bound coach proud of Portugal reign after exit

By James Dall   Last updated: 19th June 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Scolari - I did my best

Scolari: Deflated

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Luiz Felipe Scolari does not believe delaying his announcement to join Chelsea would have prevented Portugal from suffering elimination from Euro 2008.

Scolari's men departed this summer's tournament at the quarter-final stage as they were beaten 3-2 by Germany in Basel.

The Brazilian is set to fill the vacant managerial position at Chelsea on 1st July, a revelation that was announced during Euro 2008.

But Scolari is refusing to blame the proclamation, instead admitting that his side's defensive mistakes cost them dear against the Germans.

Responsible

Scolari said: "If I had not announced we would have lost anyway. We lost because we did not do things right or with more quality. It has nothing to do with that.

"I am responsible for choosing the players and the tactics so the main person responsible for Portugal not being in the last four is the coach.

"We made mistakes for the goals, though I can argue that on the third goal there was a foul. But that was a mistake, because we can't wait for the referee to signal a foul.

"I'm upset because I think Portugal had the ability to be among the best four (teams). But we made mistakes today and couldn't get the result.

"We lost but we played the match in a way that pleased us. In general, I'm satisfied with what the players did in the competition and I'm proud."

Gave his all

On his five-year tenure in charge of Portugal, Scolari added: "I leave with a clear conscience, I always did my best and today was no exception. I did the best I could, hoping the players would do the same. And they did."

Scolari led Portugal to the Euro 2004 final but they were defeated by Greece, while his side failed against France in the semi-finals at the 2006 World Cup.