Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said Friday that his principles had stood in the way of him accepting to become the English coach.

Scolari, who led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title and took Portugal to the Euro 2004 final, had been widely tipped to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson as England coach after the current World Cup.

But the Brazilian withdrew from the race because of the ongoing pressure associated with the high-profile job. Scolari had met with England FA chief executive Brian Barwick in Lisbon in April to discuss the job, but he had become instantly disenchanted with the intense attention the job attracts.

"Some people, like me, like to respect contracts and I had a contract with the Portuguese FA. I'm very happy with it," Scolari said ahead of Portugal's quarter-final clash with England on Saturday. "If my 'no' to the English FA hurt someone, I'm sorry, but I respect contracts and will stick with Portugal until the end."

Scolari's contract with Portugal runs on July 31, after which he said he would speak with "whomever," adding that, though he was honored by the FA's nod, the timing wasn't right.

"Come July 31 I'm a free man and the Portuguese FA is also free to choose another coach," he said. "I have some ideals in my life that I like to show my players and I can't break them."