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SOCCER QUOTES
.Big Phil's best quotes
By Chris Charles
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New Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is not the kind of guy to call a spade a soil-redistibution implement.
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'Big Phil' won't be afraid to say what he thinks and you can guarantee a few feathers will be ruffled when he takes up residence in the Premier League on 1 July.
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Until then, here's a little reminder of the fiery Brazilian's past gems...
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"Jesus said we should turn the other cheek. Unfortunately, Figo is not Jesus Christ." After Portugal captain Figo headbutted the Netherlands' Mark van Bommel at the last World Cup.
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"There were 20 reporters in front of my house - that was too much and I didn't like it." When linked to the England job before Germany 2006.
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"That hypocrisy that someone who's born here is a saint and someone born on the other side of the Atlantic is a devil, that doesn't exist. It's time to stop that clown show. I'm just like anybody else, I've got two legs, two arms and a head."
Upon being grilled by Her Majesty's press about the England position.
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"I'm allowed to have meetings with who I want. I can have meetings with the Pope but to make a deal with the English FA is something else." Hitting back at criticism from within Portugal for talking to the FA.
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"I can go to a ball at a dancing hall with these guys every day but I won't make an agreement." Insisting he wouldn't be signing any contracts with England until after the World Cup. And true to his word, he didn't.
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"I think Pele knows nothing about soccer. He's done nothing as a coach and his analysis turns out to be always wrong. If you plan on winning a title, you do the opposite to what Pele says." After leading Brazil to their fifth World Cup triumph.
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"If someone talks about my private life, for example, I'll give them a good punching. I'm not interested in suing. I like to sort things out my way."
After one of his players at Palmeiras was abused by fans over his private life.
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"This is war, and I have to kill and not be killed." On football at the highest level.
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"I believe firmly in astrology. Since I was a kid, the stars told me I was a winner." On being football's answer to Russell Grant.
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"The most important thing is to have a unified group. The national team should be like a family."
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International football.
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"I once played in a marvellous team, Caxias. But one player took the place of a defender we liked a lot. The central defender who played alongside me told me: 'I'm not going to cover for him. I don't like him. He goes up to join the attack and doesn't come back; I'm not doing his work for him.' We lost the next game 5-1." On the importance of team unity.
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"You play with joy when you get the right result. How can you play with joy if you lose? Imagine if we go to the World Cup and play three wonderful games, all out of this world - and we don't qualify. What's the point in that? If we have to play ugly to reach the objective, we will play ugly." Scolari's approach to the game with Portugal at the 2006 World Cup. Just what Roman Abramovich didn't want to hear.
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"South American coaches, especially Brazilians and Argentinians, have a certain mystique about them. We make everything enjoyable, and that's what football's all about - having fun!" On the joy of being Brazilian.
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