The 60-year-old had hoped to stay in London, where he has lived since being sacked by Chelsea in February, but has failed to find a suitable vacancy.

He is understood to be deciding between the dual Uzbekistan role and another Asian national team - thought to be Saudi Arabia.

However, he will monitor World Cup qualifiers coming up over the next week as he is reluctant to join a national side if they have no realistic chance of making next year’s finals in South Africa.

His agent, Jorge Mendes, recently made approaches to both AC Milan and Juventus but the former have turned to Brazilian Leonardo while the latter have indicated they will approach an Italian coach.

The Uzbekistan offer is believed to be the more lucrative.

Bunyodkor snared Brazilian coach Zico last year, who used the job as a stepping stone to the CSKA Moscow hotseat.

Rivaldo, now 37, is a year into an astonishing £80,000 a week, four-year contract with club and was part of Scolari’s 2002 World Cup-winning Brazil team.

He was signed after the club failed in a £15million bid to sign Samuel Eto’o from Barcelona last summer.

The ambitious club, formed just four years ago, have their eye on winning the Asian Champions League, which is a route to the Club World Cup and an international audience.

Scolari has previously worked in Asia, with clubs in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Japan, as well as the Kuwait national team.