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Basel: Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said money matters were only one of his reasons for joining Chelsea after Euro 2008.
Scolari, whose appointment was announced by Chelsea on Wednesday, began a news conference by making a statement about his move to the English Premier League.
"I would like to close a topic that has already been concluded by both parties," said the Brazilian.
"I have to work with the (Portuguese) federation until the end of the tournament and every decision that has been taken, they were aware of all along. "(Federation president) Gilberto Madail looked for sponsors but when none came forward he told me I was free to negotiate (my future) with whoever I wanted."
Opportunity
Asked whether his decision to join Chelsea was financial he said: "Yes, that is one of the reasons."
But he added: "I'm 59 and I don't want to work as a coach until I'm 70. I want to retire in four or five years, so it was a financial matter."
Scolari at first answered questions about the Chelsea announcement and its timing, in the middle of Portugal's participation in Euro 2008, in monosyllables.
To the question of whether it had affected the atmosphere in the squad he said: "No."
To whether the timing was good, he said "Yes."
To whether the timing showed a lack of respect to the squad and fans, he said: "No."
He loosened up, adding: "The timing is not going to affect our (team) relationship so let's stop talking about this topic.
"We did our sums and decided the best thing for me was what was decided a few days ago," he added, referring to his move.
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