Scolari heads for Chelsea with bruised pride

BASEL (AFP) - Luiz Felipe Scolari will head for Chelsea with his pride and his reputation for getting the most out of his players having suffered bruising blows at the hands of a German side that has reclaimed the status of favourites at Euro 2008.

Scolari claimed a blunder by referee Peter Frojdfelt could have cost Portugal their chance of a place in the last four after they went down to a 3-2 defeat by Joachim Loew's side in an exhilarating quarter-final here on Thursday.

But the Brazilian, who led his native country to World Cup glory in 2002, also had to admit that the failure of the defensive scheme he had laid out for his talented side was also at the root of their exit from the tournament.

Portugal departed with justifiable cause for complaint after Germany's third goal was headed in by Michael Ballack after he had shoved Paulo Ferreira in the back.

That gave the Germans a 3-1 lead when Portugal were pressing for an equaliser and Scolari voiced his frustration over the failure of the Swedish officials to spot the foul.

"I do not want to say Germany benefitted from that but all the TV screens show Ballack clearly pushed our player. Unfortunately the referee did not see it and we stopped.

"I do not know if it would have changed the match. We could have lost by 2-1 but when we are pressing the opponent and we concede a third goal we have to start all over again, our opponents grow in stature.