Brazil’s Scolari resigns as World Cup coach
Luiz Felipe Scolari resigned as Brazil’s coach after the team’s failure to win the World Cup, the Brazilian Football Confederation said Monday.
Brazil was eliminated in the semifinals by a 7-1 loss to Germany that matched the national team’s worst defeat in its 100-year history. Brazil also fell 3-0 to the Netherlands in the third-place match Saturday.
Scolari’s contract ended after the World Cup, and he handed over the command of the team after the third-place match, saying that it would be up to the confederation to decide whether he would remain at the helm of the five-time world champions.
In a statement, the confederation said that president Jose Maria Marin accepted what it called “Scolari’s resignation.”
“Scolari and his staff deserve our respect and our gratitude,” the statement said. “They were responsible for making the Brazilian people regain their love for the Selecao even though we did not reach our greater goal” of winning the title.
Scolari’s replacement was not immediately announced. Assistant Carlos Alberto Parreira, the coach who led Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title, was also leaving.
The confederation said Marin would give further explanations in a news conference on Thursday.
TV ratings rise
The World Cup final between Germany and Argentina set a television viewership record in the U.S., capping a tournament that exceeded expectations for interest on both ESPN and Univision.
The month-long World Cup also was responsible for more than 3 billion interactions on Facebook and 672 million messages on Twitter, the social media companies said on Monday.
An estimated 26.5 million people in the U.S. watched Germany’s extra-time win on Sunday afternoon, the Nielsen company said. The game had 17.3 million viewers on ABC and another 9.2 million on the Spanish-language Univision. In addition, just over 750,000 people were watching the game during a typical minute online through services provided by each network.
The 2010 finale between Spain and the Netherlands, along with the U.S. team’s 2-2 draw against Portugal earlier in this year’s tournament, both had 24.7 million viewers.
Gambling ring
Federal authorities in Las Vegas said that eight people from Malaysia, China and Hong Kong were accused of operating an illegal gambling ring that took millions of dollars in bets on FIFA World Cup soccer games in high-roller villas at a Las Vegas Strip resort. A criminal complaint unsealed Monday accused Wei Seng Phua, an alleged organized crime member, and the others of participating in a scheme to take bets over WiFi and DSL lines they installed at Caesars Palace. FBI and Nevada Gaming Control Board agents made the arrests Sunday in three Caesars suites. Agents reported finding a laptop computer logging illegal wagers.
