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发信人: roy_young(風呂中男子) 整理人: roy_young(2002-08-08 12:27:03), 站内信件 |
| By: Dale Johnson
China coach Bora Milutinovic is preparing his side for their finals debut, but for the man himself it will be the fifth time he has taken a country to the World Cup. 
Milutinovic has previously led Mexico, the United States and Nigeria to the tournament, and his opening game next Tuesday will, ironically, be against Costa Rica - the other nation he has previously coached. The clash is also China's most crucial game as many believe the Costa Ricans are the only side in the group China stand a chance of beating, the others being Brazil and Turkey. But Milutinovic is taking it all in his stride: 'It is not a new experience because we played them so many times when I was coaching the USA and then Mexico,' he said. 'They are my very good friends. I love them very much. 'Costa Rica are very good technically. I think China have different quality physically. It's difficult to compare them - everything is different and everything is possible. The difference is they have three million people, China has more than 400 times more.' If Costa Rica's performance under Milutinovic at the 1990 World Cup is anything to go by, China's 1.3 billion people have every reason to be optimistic. Costa Rica sprang a major surprise 12 years ago by beating Scotland and Sweden to reach the second round. 'It was so different. We enjoyed ourselves and went to the disco every day - very, very, very relaxed,' he said. 'I think that's why we won the games. Now we have so many journalists. It is very different.' Milutinovic has said previously that China stand a chance of reaching the second round if they beat Costa Rica, lost to Brazil and held Turkey to a draw. |
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