O’Neill hails ‘big Phil’

Martin O’Neill saluted Brazil coach Luiz Filipe Scolari after he ignored criticism back home to lead his side to the World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

The South Americans won the trophy for an unprecedented fifth time with a 2-0 victory over Germany.

Ronaldo stole the headlines with two goals to exorcise the misery of France ‘98, but O’Neill claims Scolari also deserves to be made a national hero.

The Celtic manager told the BBC: ‘‘Scolari left a lot of players out of the squad and he got a lot of criticism for it.

‘‘But there’s nothing better than a coach that gets it right and when you lift that trophy you’ve got it right.’’