Rooney is no Pele

Big Phil Scolari has let everyone know what he thinks of all the Rooney hype. Not much
 
Big Phil Scolari
Scolari: Wayne don't impress him much.
 
Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari has laughed off claims that Wayne Rooney could be the new Pele.

Scolari, who led his homeland Brazil to World Cup glory two years ago, clearly had little time for the suggestion that the 18-year-old Everton striker, who has scored four goals so far in the tournament, could be compared to Pele, who dramatically burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old at the 1958 World Cup.
 
Asked to compare the two players, Scolari smiled and said: "One is white, the other is black. Rooney is an excellent player but Pele is unique. There will never be another Pele - not for a thousand years and not even in a computer game."

Speaking on the eve of the quarter-final in Lisbon between Portugal and England, Scolari made it clear there would be no special plans for Rooney.
 
"We will not put one man on him," he said. "We will defend our goal in the normal way. England are a very strong team who play to a very strong system and we will have to be attentive to all the different elements the team possesses."
 
Scolari will be forced to make one change to the team that beat the Spanish in Lisbon because striker Pauleta is suspended. He will be replaced by Nuno Gomes, who came on as a substitute against Spain and scored the vital goal.
 
Scolari is expecting a different game from the tense group decider against the Spanish. "It will be like a play-off just like the Spanish game - kill or be killed," he said. "But the Spanish play in a different way to the English so we must play a different game."
 
He said English football had made great progress in the last few years and praised the role of Eriksson, whom he famously outmaneouvred when Brazil eliminated England at the 2002 World Cup.
 
"Their football has changed a lot in the last eight to 10 years. They no longer play the aerial ball and the technical level is much more sophisticated. It is because they have had foreign coaching ideas like Arsene (Wenger) and with Eriksson taking over the national team."