Carlos Alberto Parreira, who led Brazil to its fourth World Cup title in 1994, is back at the helm of the national soccer team.

Parreira, 57, was appointed as Brazil coach today by the country's soccer confederation, replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led the team to an unprecedented fifth World Cup victory in 2002. Parreira's contract runs through the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Confederation president Ricardo Texeira said Mario Zagallo, Brazil's coach at the 1998 World Cup where the team lost to France in the finals, will be part of Parreira's coaching staff, as he was at the 1994 World Cup.

Parreira has just led Corinthians to victory in the Copa Brasil and the Rio-Sao Paulo soccer tournament and to the finals of the national championships, where they lost to Santos.

The announcement of Parreira came as a surprise since Oswaldo de Oliveira, who coaches the Sao Paulo soccer team, had long been considered a shoo-in for the job.

The national squad's first game under the new coach will be a friendly against China to be played on February 12, probably in Hong Kong.