Brazil and Portugal meet for the first since 2003 when they face off in an international friendly Tuesday in London at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, live, 3 pm ET).

Luiz Felipe Scolari, Portugal’s Brazilian coach, has sat on the bench for two previous Brazil-Portugal friendlies — the first as Brazil coach in a game that ended in a 1-1 tie in April 2002 and the second as Portugal coach in a game Portugal won, 2-1, in March 2003. Scolari says the victory in his second game in charge of Portugal after leaving Brazil, which he led to the 2002 World Cup title, was an important victory for him.

“We had lost 1-0 to Italy in Genoa in my first match, and we had to get the fans on our side,” Scolari said on Monday. “We now enjoy a good relationship with the Portuguese fans. That was also the match that launched Deco.”

The Brazilian-born Deco debuted for Portugal in that game and scored the winning goal. Portugal went on to finish second at Euro 2004 and fourth at the 2006 World Cup, but it is off to a slow start in Euro 2008 qualifying. Portugal, fourth in Group A, is preparing for Euro 2008 qualifiers against Serbia and Belgium near the end of March, and should field an experienced team against Brazil.

Brazil goes into the game unbeaten under Dunga, who took charge after the 2006 World Cup, but the Brazilian press has been awash with stories of problems between Dunga and Ronaldinho. Dunga said he has had no trouble with the Barcelona star, who is injured and won’t play in London.

The Brazilian starting lineup against Portugal is expected to feature only four holdovers from the starting team that lost to France in the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup: central defenders Lucio and Juan and midfielders Gilberto Silva and Kaka. Dunga is expected to start Rafael Sobis of Real Betis and Fred of Lyon up front.

Despite the makeshift Brazil team, Scolari says the five-time world champions will be tough. “It doesn’t matter who’s called up,” he said. “Brazil has enough good players to field three, four or five top-quality national teams.”

PROBABLE LINEUPS:
Portugal — Ricardo, Miguel, Ricardo Carvalho, Jorge Andrade, Caneira, Petit, Tiago, Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco, Quaresma, Postiga.
Brazil — Helton, Maicon, Lucio, Juan, Gilberto, Edmi­lson, Gilberto Silva, Elano, Kaka, Rafael Sobis, Fred.