Milutinovic May Become China Coach

Bora Milutinovic, who has led four national teams to the second round of the World Cup, is negotiating to become coach of China, state media reported Tuesday.

Milutinovic, who coached the United States during the 1994 World Cup, would become the third foreigner to coach the Chinese team, which never has qualified for a World Cup despite soccer’s huge popularity in China.

The last two foreign coaches, Klaus Schlappner of Germany and Bobby Houghton of England, were fired.

Milutinovic, who also has coached Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990) and Nigeria (1998), and the Chinese Football Assn. talked for more than two hours Tuesday and “finally saw eye to eye with each other in the details of the contract,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

A source involved in the talks was quoted as saying that the two sides reached a consensus, but Milutinovic has not signed a contract.

Milutinovic resigned in October as coach of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars of Major League Soccer after the worst season in the team’s four-year history.

Houghton was fired in December after China failed to qualify for this year’s Sydney Olympics.