Juan Felipe Scolari denied that he will take over as head coach of the English national team after the World Cup in Germany. Rumors about Scolari leaving his current job as manager of Portugal national team were present in the English media for the past few weeks. It was believed that the FA officials were thinking about offering Scolari the job, since Ericksson`s contract expires at the end of the next World Cup tournament.

The Brazilian coach has a great football CV, managing to triumph in the last World Cup in Japan & South Korea with the Brazilian national team. He then stepped up to the new challenge offered by the Portuguese officials, to conquer the European Crown in Portugal 2004. He came close to it, losing in the final against Greece.

"I have a contract with Portugal until 31 July and until this day I am coach of Portugal. I don't think about England. If I think about England, I forget Portugal. That is not my job now, just Portugal," declared Scolari on Tuesday. On the other hand, Portugal boss Gilberto Madail assured fans not to worry: "We have got a gentlemen's agreement and it will not be broken. I've got his word and that's it".

The English officials are expected to make up their minds pretty quickly, and announce the name of Ericksson's successor by the beginning of this year's World Cup. Another name arose by the media is Steve McClaren, Middlesbrough`s current coach. Although Boro were not that convincing in the Premier League standings this year, McClaren managed to qualify his team for the UEFA Cup and FA Cup semifinals. Boro have a good chance of making it to the final of UEFA, if they'll recover the 1-0 deficit to Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.