IT'S ALL ABOUT IMAGE

From today's Guardian

Portugal's head coach, Luis Felipe Scolari, appears to have made another enemy by accusing Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant, Carlos Queiroz, of being underhand and economical with the truth in an escalating row about Cristiano Ronaldo's fitness.

In a sustained and typically outspoken attack Scolari also alleged that Queiroz is orchestrating a campaign to replace him as Portugal's head coach. He claimed that the man who preceded him in the job from 1991 to 1993 was "using the media" to promote himself and questioned why Queiroz repeatedly turned up at their Under-21 games.

"I don't understand his [Queiroz's] role in football (Ed. Arf!) but it seems to me that he is trying to return to the Portuguese national team, where I am already in charge," said Scolari. "It seems he is working on his candidacy for the position of national coach."

Queiroz has not responded to the allegations other than to point out that he is fully entitled to watch Portugal's younger players as part of his job. "We have a constant strategy whereby we always have a number of players we examine and give our attention," he said.

He has repeatedly been linked with vacancies away from Old Trafford, the latest being that of US national coach, but has often stated that he has no desire to leave England. United are dismayed by Scolari's handling of the matter, however, not least because Ronaldo returned from Wednesday's 3-0 defeat of Kazakhstan with a twisted ankle. The 21-year-old was withdrawn 56 minutes into the Euro 2008 qualifier having exacerbated an injury he picked up in United's 1-0 win at Blackburn. An ice pack was used to reduce the swelling.

Photographs of him grimacing in pain will cause United consternation before their game at Sheffield United tomorrow, particularly as Ferguson and Queiroz had questioned at the start of the week whether he should be withdrawn from the Portugal squad. "Ronaldo was fine to play," said Scolari, the man who this year turned down the chance to be England manager. "The issue here is that Queiroz has to maintain his image in front of the Manchester United fans. Publicly he said Cristiano was injured but, to us, he said he was well and that he would be OK to play. It is all a question of image."