I was standing at the left side of the entrance when I noticed a small crowd of a dozen journalists surrounding a solitary individual to my right and I couldn’t help but walk to the spot to feed my curiosity. But what I discovered was a slice of joy from heaven as the person who kept the journalists interested was none other than Bora Milutinovic, the journeyman coach of the modern football era.
Bora had coached eight different national teams in his nomadic career and taken a record five different teams to five different editions of Fifa World Cup - Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the USA (1994), Nigeria (1998) and China (2002). Now 70, Bora lives in Qatar and served as a “bid ambassador” for its successful campaign to host the 2022 World Cup. The Serbian never misses any big football tournament and I remember he was surrounded by hundreds of journalists before the 2nd round match between Brazil and Argentina in 1990 World Cup.
A modest and ever smiling personality, Bora possesses patience, a rare quality these days, of talking with almost everyone who approaches him. The most interesting fact about him is he can speak five languages fluently and answered the questions right to the point and one by one. Just after finishing a flash interview with a Mexican lady journalist, Bora stared at me and seemed to enjoy the name Bangladesh. He said with a faint smile that Argentina coach Sabella was lucky to escape with a draw and that too much dependence on Messi was not the ideal formula of success. “I think Argentina were lucky and I don’t like to be dependent on one individual. Messi is a great player but as a coach I rather expect my team will perform,” said Milutinovic.
Bora was shocked to see defending World champions Spain crash like a house of cards against Holland. “I was shocked to see Spain fall like a house of cards. I thought the World champions would be a potent force now. I think they now have to show a great deal after that big defeat. However, I am not writing them off. Spain had a bad day but it is not that they don’t have a chance to change their fate. They have to come back. It will be interesting,” said Milutinovic.
Asked about his favorite picks to win this World Cup, the veteran coach replied, “Brazil, Argentina and Netherlands are the potent force to win the title. I liked the control and pace of the Netherlands against Spain. Brazil also did well,” added the Serbian.
But among all these, he still had time to express his gratitude to Costa Rica, a nation he took to the finals in 1990. He was delighted to see his former team beat Uruguay. “I hoped they would do well. I am not surprised by Costa Rica’s win over Uruguay. It is a result of what we set in motion back in 1990. I still remember the occasion when Costa Rica qualified for the Word Cup, they respected me.” said Milutinovic.
