During 1996, Scolari was the head coach of gremio, Brazil. When he was not well-known in the fashion world, he took Judd, nunes and other Brazilian players to China for a commercial competition. At the Workers Stadium, gremio lost 2-3 to Beijing Guoan. However, several key decisions made by the referee caused controversy and a handball missed by Deng Lejun, which made Scolari furious after the game.

In an interview with China media, Scolari said angrily, "If you always win the game like this, then China football will never make a difference and will never enter the World Cup!"