CCTV.COM 2002-05-28 14:05:08
Time now for our special look at China's Road to the World Cup. It has been a long and hard journey paved with disappointment. China has suffered one defeat after another in its attempts to qualify for the World Cup finals. Coaches often took the brunt of the blame. Chinese coaches such as Gao Fengwen, Zeng Xuelin and Qi Wusheng were all victimized after the failure of their national football teams. In the early 1990s, the nation began to turn abroad for help. However, the hiring of foreign coaches was not without controversy.
In our next World Cup special, we will look at China's home grown talent that have made the big leap forward to play football for overseas clubs.
Bora Milutinovic is probably the most popular foreigner in all of China. So hot is he, he recently appeared in several commercials such as this one for a Chinese made air－conditioner. Milutinovic is the head coach of China's national football team and now a legend from Beijing to Kashgar after he led China into the World Cup finals for the very first time. A deed that instantly made Milu a rich and famous man.
In the early 1990s after China suffered repeated defeats in its attempt to get to the World Cup finals, many began to question the ability of Chinese football coaches. Hiring foreign coaches seemed to become the solution. So, a German, Klaus Schlappner, was invited as the first foreign coach of the Chinese team. His arrival did give the Chinese team fresh impetus and new hope. He became a household name in China and was constantly under the harsh glare of the media spotlight.
Schlappner's honeymoon with the Chinese team lasted until the first qualifying round of the 1994 World Cup. The team lost and he lost his job.
Heated debate soon followed over whether foreign coaches could offer better therapies to Chinese football. Many believed that it's wrong to expect a foreign coach to change Chinese football overnight. Others said advanced foreign coaching and techniques were exactly what the Chinese team needed to succeed.
After little progress was made by Chinese coaches, the Chinese team again turned to a foreign coach and Bobby Houghton was hired in 1998. Unfortunately, Chinese football proved to be an uncompromising waterloo for the Englishman. Houghton failed to lead China's Olympic Team to the Sydney Games in 1999. He was blamed for being too defensively－minded and excessively rigid with his tactics and selection policy.
In 2000, the baton was passed to the hands of Bora Milutinovic, the "magic coach" whose midas touch has helped four different teams into the World Cup finals. But would his magic work for the Chinese team？ His loose training system, which he branded as "happy football," sparked quite an uproar in sporting circles.
Milutinovic said, "Our choice should be learning how to play the football, play with the brain. We'll achieve our goals if we know how to handle ourselves in crucial moments, no matter who our opponent is."
His maverick coaching style included playing games with his squad during training and stressing something unpragmatic like attitude over skills and his tactics didn't convince many until the Chinese team qualified for the 2002 World Cup finals.
You can't attribute China's success to Milutinovic alone. The development of Chinese football owes a lot to many after years of effort by generations of coaches and players. Nonetheless, Milutinovic made magic again.
Editor:Hope CCTV.com
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