Next up for England: Nemesis Phil and Portugal

Shintaro Kano Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter

Big Phil stands in England's way once again.

With victory over the Netherlands on Sunday, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari took Portugal to the World Cup quarterfinals, where it will face England for a place in the last four.

The English have not been able to get past a Scolari team at the last two major tournaments. They lost to Scolari's Brazil in the quarters of the 2002 World Cup, and were beaten again, in a penalty shootout, by the Brazilian manager and Portugal in the last eight at the European championship a couple of years ago.

Seeing it that it couldn't beat him, England tried to recruit Scolari in search of a successor to Sven-Goran Eriksson, who is due to stand down following the World Cup. Scolari, though, turned down the Football Association and the job went to Middlesbrough boss Steve McLaren.

Now, as if fate would have it, the World Cup-winning manager and England have been reunited at Germany 2006, in Saturday's quarterfinal at Gelsenkirchen.

Scolari should have the psychological edge, but he did not give it away following Sunday's hard-fought win.

"The England game will be a difficult one," said Scolari, former coach of the J.League's Jubilo Iwata. "They have quality players who have a lot of heart, and we must prepare for them thoroughly."

His players, though, did not bother concealing their confidence of another win against England, which defeated Ecuador 1-0 thanks to the set-piece artistry of captain David Beckham.

"We've got every chance of beating England," said forward Pauleta. "We're all pulling in the same direction, and we're an even better team than two years ago when we played them in the European championship."

Added goalkeeper Ricardo: "We're going to meet England again in the quarterfinals and this time, I don't want to decide it on penalties. Some people picked their winners before the tournament starts, and I don't even think that England deserved to win their game today against Ecuador."

Scolari does have his share of concerns. In beating the Dutch, midfielders Deco and Costinha drew red cards that will automatically suspend them for the England game. Making matters worse, star Cristiano Ronaldo suffered a bruised thigh, bad enough to force a substitution.

While Scolari listed Ronaldo as doubtful for the next match, the Manchester United winger said he thought he could go. Either way, Scolari fully believes in the replacements.

"That's why we bring 23 players," he said. "[Costinha, Deco and Ronaldo]) are very important for me, but I have other players that can fulfill their positions. We are going to work, and see what we can do."