A Special Correspondent/Rio de Janerio
Qatar 2022 will be a “dream” competition which will leave an “incredible” legacy for the Middle East to build on, the man who took a record five teams to the World Cup finals has said.
Bora Milutinovic may not ring a bell for the newest generation of football fans but the Serbian national holds an enviable position in the pantheon of the game’s coaching greats for guiding Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the US (1994), Nigeria (1998) and China (2002) at the World Cup - a feat matched only by the great Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira.
For the past few years, he has been a resident of Qatar as its 2022 bid ambassador and has been offering his expertise to sports organisations as a consultant. He even had a brief stint as coach of top club side Al Sadd in 2004.
Milutinovic said the 2022 World Cup would have a similar impact in Qatar and the region as the 1994 event had in the US.
“In the USA, in 1994, thanks to the FIFA World Cup we were able to establish football, because before that there was no league there,” Milutinovic told journalists in Brazil where he is attending the ongoing tournament.
“Ever since the 1994 event, the US have figured regularly in the World Cup and have improved their standards considerably,” he added
Milutinovic, under whose stewardship four out of five teams made the knockout phase of the tournament, was confident Qatar would silence its critics with its organsational abilities.
“The 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar will be a dream competition. I’d like to tell people what the World Cup will bring to the Middle East. In Qatar, the legacy effect of the tournament will be incredible.”
Milutinovic dismissed fears over the heat, stressing that the cooling technology to be used during the event eight years from now would ensure a comfortable World Cup for both players and fans.
“Temperatures will be great because there is cooling in place. All stadiums will be close to each other, so there will be no need to travel five hours. It will be marvellous, perfect conditions for players and fans.”
Milutinovic has been greeted with enthusiasm in football-mad Brazil where fans recognise him instantly - after all, there is no coach so completely familiar with the history of the tournament across different continents.
In Rio de Janerio, along the Copacabana beach, there are regular exclamations of “Bora”, and requests for endless photos when the Serbian “miracle worker” walks past. He is stopped by fans from Mexico and China, Costa Rica and Colombia, Honduras and Morocco. To his credit, he handles every single request with exemplary patience – and a trademark smile.
And as he enjoys the atmosphere in Brazil, the Qatar 2022 bid ambassador is also soaking in the success of Costa Rica whom he led to a sensational second round berth in their first-ever FIFA World Cup appearance in 1990.
“Costa Rica is playing a great World Cup. They wrote history by reaching the quarter-finals, and I am very happy that 24 years after I took them to the second round, they have reached the last eight. They have prevailed over three great teams.”
He was a little more cautious, however, when asked to predict the result of the Costa Rica-Netherlands quarter-final clash.
“Everything is possible. But you have to be aware of who you are, and the Dutch have great players. In 1990 we did something special. In Costa Rica’s first World Cup we were able not just to get a point, but to get two big wins on the way to the second round.”
