Manchester United assistant coach Carlos Queiroz lashed out at Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Friday after the Brazilian claimed Queiroz wanted his job.

Queiroz said Scolari's claim was ``ridiculous, senseless.''

``Scolari behaves like one of those people you lend your car to when it's got a full tank of gas and they use it all week, crash it and then leave it on a sidestreet with no gas and aren't even polite enough to phone and tell you where they left it,'' Queiroz told Portuguese radio station Renascenca.

Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson backed his assistant against Scolari, saying the Brazilian's remarks were ``a crazy thing to say.''

``I'm sure Scolari goes to watch Benfica or FC Porto at some point, but does that mean he is after the guy's job?'' Ferguson said in Manchester, England. ``All of my coaches and scouts have been around Europe watching games this week and I'm sure they are all still working for me.''

Mozambique-born Queiroz was in Portugal on Wednesday for the country's 2008 European championship qualifier against Kazakhstan. He had repeated concerns first expressed by Ferguson that United winger Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't fit to play after sustaining an ankle injury in an English Premier League match.

Those remarks angered Scolari who said his medical department didn't require outside help to make decisions on players' fitness.

Ronaldo played the first hour against Kazakhstan before being substituted when Portugal was 2-0 up in a 3-0 win. Ronaldo got the second goal.

``We observed Cristiano in training and we had already spoken to Queiroz about it,'' Scolari said after the game.

``(Queiroz) has to play his part for the (United) fans. It's all a question of image and having something to say to your club's fans. At the bottom of it all is that he came here to watch a match and prepare his application for the job of (Portugal) coach.''

Scolari's remarks in turn angered Ferguson.

``What confuses me is Scolari's comments about Carlos,'' Ferguson said Friday.

``He inferred that Carlos had spoken to him and marked his card that Ronaldo was all right, but then gave a different story to the press to keep the Manchester United fans happy.

``But Carlos never spoke to Scolari at all and I'm confused about that and I don't understand why he is saying it.''

© The Canadian Press, 2007