We left him in Paris, in the highly-charged atmosphere of a post-match press conference at the Stade de France where he was desperately trying to explain how "his" Nigeria side had just tumbled out of France '98, humiliated 4-1 by Denmark. We find him again in Guangzhou in the People's Republic of China where "his" China beat Uruguay 1-0 on Sunday.
If you are one of those football fans who only tunes into the world's most popular game at World Cup time, then his face will be very familiar to you. Likewise, if you are a US, Mexican or Costa Rican soccer fan, then the name Bora Milutinovic needs no introduction.
The 55-year-old Milutinovic last weekend opened yet another chapter in his international managerial career when he signed a contract to coach China with a view to seeing them qualify for the 2002 World Cup finals, to be jointly held in South Korea and Japan. If Milutinovic pulls off that unlikely coup, then he could find himself attending his fifth consecutive World Cup as coach to a fifth different country.
For most of us, Milutinovic first shot across our footballing horizons during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He was the eccentric-looking, bespectacled coach to the home team who soon became famous for the manner in which he would "instruct" the player about to go on as a substitute. As the player was busy going through the usual stretching routine, Milutinovic would kneel beside him and show him a clip board diagram, hastily drawn out with a felt pen and dominated by a complex combination of arrows and crosses.
By the time Italia '90 came round four years later, Milutinovic and Mexico had long since parted company and the man from Belgrade was in charge of Costa Rica. Yet again, Milutinovic worked minor miracles. First of all, he masterminded Costa Rica's first ever qualification for a World Cup finals tournament. Secondly, he took Costa Rica much further than they deserved, winning first round games against Scotland and Sweden to get into the second round, where they were defeated 4-1 by Czechoslovakia.
Four years later at USA '94, Milutinovic was back in the by now familiar position of coaching the little fancied home team at the finals. Once again, he did not pass unnoticed, dispensing diagrams and interviews by the hundredweight and going out in glory when the USA were beaten 1-0 in the second round by Brazil.
France '98, of course, provided much more dramatic evidence of Milutinovic's abilities. Firstly, as coach to Mexico, he guided the Central American side to the finals only to fall out with the Mexican Federation and find himself unemployed months before the tournament. At that point, in stepped Nigeria, engaging him in March of 1998.
"His" Nigeria had us all dreaming, at least for the opening 10 days. This time, we felt, an African side is going to go very close, if not all the way. Some breathtaking soccer in opening wins against Spain (3-2) and Bulgaria (1-0) promised much. Danish skill and resilience plus a dash of the recurring "African" disease of government interference put an end to all that.
Beijing is the latest challenge. Qualifying China for the 2002 World Cup from an Asian qualifying round which sees China start off against Indonesia, the Maldives and Cambodia is the target. If the Chinese get through there, then they are into a second round with a further eight qualifying matches. Fourteen games later, the trick might just have been worked for 2002.
Paddy Agnew can be contacted at pagnew@irish-times.ie
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