Scolari has been England's menace in the last two major tournaments as he coached his country Brazil to beat Eriksson's men in the World Cup 2002 quarter-finals.

He was also in charge of the Portuguese side that beat England in the EURO2004 in the last eight.

"This is not a match between me and Scolari, but between England and Portugal, that's the most important thing," Eriksson told Sky Sports News on Friday.

"I respect him, he's a very good professional coach and manager, I speak with him when we meet at courses and meetings, I think he's a nice man."

The Swede said that his team have a good chance to change their fortunes against Scolari's Portugal and open up their road to the final game, a phase England failed to reach since 1966.

"We have a better squad and a better team, a young squad but with a lot of experience and I'm very confident, the players are more confident than two years ago," Eriksson said.

"Everything has to be right, we have to keep the ball and attack and defend well otherwise, we won't win, if we get to the semi final, it'll be very positive, expectations are enormous and I like it."

Eriksson, though, gave Portugal credit for what they have done in the tournament so far.

"Portugal have a fantastic team and we know they have good individual skill, organization, pace and technique," he said.