Luiz Felipe Scolari regards himself, after 35 years of marriage, as a quiet family man and admitted to spending time with his wife rather than watching videos of the opposition before Portugal’s quarter-final against England at Euro 2004, but he has been known to employ a little sleight of hand. According to family legend, the couple got together as teenagers when Scolari was “looking after” Olga Pasinata, his best friend’s girlfriend, while the friend was away. Seven years later they married.

The Portugal coach, who will take over as Chelsea manager next month, has a reputation as a stern disciplinarian, which should not come as much of a surprise because his own philandering days were short and sweet. He and his wife met in Porto Alegre, Brazil, when the 16-year-old Olga was working at her family’s hotel in the town and the 17-year-old Felipe was a part-time petrol pump attendant as well as playing football.

As a biology graduate who worked as a teacher before giving up her job to follow her husband to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Japan, Portugal and now England, Olga could not be farther removed from the stereotypical image of the footballer’s wife and is unlikely to spend too much time with her fellow WAGs.

She has a love of art, with Mrs Scolari revealing last year that she would like to live in London or Florence. A keen amateur painter, the 59-year-old is a member of the San Diego Museum of Art Artist’s Guild. The couple’s two sons, Leonardo, 23, and Fabricio, 16, are keen to stay in Lisbon to complete their studies, so their mother is likely to spend plenty of time in Portugal.

Olga, for all her artistic interests, also possesses a deep knowledge of football, and was purportedly behind her husband’s surprising decision to take a 20-year-old Kaká to the 2002 World Cup finals. Given her footballing preferences, Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, is no doubt delighted to have her on board.