Eastern Star
Bora Milutinovic’s weathered features and mop of gray curls seem out of place among the pictures of lanky, young Chinese soccer players pasted into Cai Xiaomei’s scrapbook.
But for 16-year-old Cai, watching from behind the fence as the national team works out in tropical southwestern China, the Yugoslav coach is every inch her hero.
“Milu is so cool,” she said, using the nickname by which he is universally known in China.
Millions of Chinese agree.
They credit 57-year-old Milutinovic with making history by leading China into the finals of the World Cup for the first time ever. The Cup takes place in Japan and South Korea from May 31 to June 30.
The success has made Milutinovic a folk hero in China and a high-paid pitchman. Already ubiquitous in the sports press, he does TV ads for rice wine and language-learning devices--a fitting endorsement, since he doesn’t speak Chinese.
A former professional player in Yugoslavia, Milutinovic was coaching a New York team, the Metro Stars, when China called.
The Stars were having their worst year ever, which Milutinovic blames in part on his being distracted and saddened by NATO bombing in his homeland.
China offered a fresh start.
Milutinovic is the third foreigner to coach China. The others--Klaus Schlappner of Germany and Bobby Houghton of Britain--served only briefly before being fired.
Milutinovic was already a World Cup veteran who has coached four countries to the second round--Mexico, Nigeria, Costa Rica and the United States.
In an interview at the Chinese team headquarters in Yunnan province, Milutinovic said he tries not to take Chinese praise too seriously.
“People said, ‘We waited 44 years.’ I say, ‘Why didn’t you call me before?’” he said with a laugh.
Milutinovic calls coaching a largely untested Chinese team the “biggest challenge of my life.”
When he started, goal-hungry Chinese fans were unhappy with his conservative style of play. They booed even when his team won.
Sentiment shifted as he racked up wins.
China cruised unbeaten to victory in its Asian qualifying group, then allowed just one loss and one draw in the next round.
When China clinched a finals berth Oct. 7, millions poured into the streets of Chinese cities in celebration. Many hoisted pictures of Milutinovic with “Thank You” written on them.
“When you win games, everybody loves you,” he said with a smile.
Milutinovic warns fans not to expect too much. He calls China one of the four weakest teams in the Cup and says just getting into the final is a tremendous achievement. He says moving on to the next round is far from assured.
“We need to understand, they’ve never played the World Cup. It’s a different ambiance. Everything is different, but we’re going to work hard,” he said.
China is in Group C, where it faces formidable competition from former world champion Brazil, plus Costa Rica and Turkey.
But Milutinovic says China has strong assets in its excellent teamwork, good strategic play and massive fan support.
The first games of the finals in South Korea are just a short flight or ferry ride away for fans in China’s northeast.
“I think our team is really much better than the other teams. This is reality,” Milutinovic said. “We play better. We play a lot of soccer. We have excellent attitude, excellent spirit.”
On the field, Milutinovic shouts orders and approval in a disorienting, sometimes off-color mix of Serbian, Spanish and English. A translator who is always at his side renders it into Chinese.
Coaching through a translator poses no special challenge, because “the game is the same around the world,” he said.
Often, Milutinovic jumps in on practice drills like a man one-third his age.
The enthusiasm has rubbed off on players, who run through a strenuous but good-humored practice. Used to stern drills, they call it “happy soccer.”
“I can’t run like 20 years ago, but always I try to play the game to show them what it’s like to enjoy what you do,” Milutinovic said.
At other times, he’s deadly serious.
For two hours after lunch, Milutinovic bans cameras as he runs an experimental goalie drill with the help of Yugoslav trainers.
An Qi, a goalkeeper, said Milutinovic has a rare insight into what makes a team mesh.
“Milu has rich experience. He’s brought cohesion and competitiveness to our team and unity is extremely important to a team,” An said.
Fans watching through the fence call Milutinovic the key to victory.
“I’d say success this time is definitely 80 percent due to Milu’s leadership,” said a college student who would give only his surname, Hu.
Milutinovic won’t rule out coaching in China in the future but says the Cup is all that matters for now.
“I’m only thinking now of sharing with the players my experience in the World Cup, my soccer experience to help them to learn as much as possible in the next months,” he said.
