Velibor "Bora" Milutinović (; born 7 September 1944) is a Serbian former professional footballer and manager.

He has managed at five editions of the FIFA World Cup, tied for the record alongside Brazilian manager Carlos Alberto Parreira and Portuguese manager Carlos Queiroz, but did so in five consecutive World Cups with different teams: Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the United States (1994), Nigeria (1998) and China (2002), qualifying for 1986 and 1994 as the host nation. He is also the first manager to take four teams beyond the first round – all but China – earning the nickname of Miracle Worker, first given to him by Alan Rothenberg, then president of the United States Soccer Federation.Profile: Bora Milutinovic soccertimes.com In total, Milutinović has managed eight national football teams for a total of 273 games – the most by any national team manager in history.

Managing career World Cup national teams Mexico (1983–86)

Milutinović led Mexico to the quarter-finals at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, its highest finish. Mexico fell in the quarter-finals to West Germany on penalty kicks.

Costa Rica (1990)

Milutinović took over Costa Rica just before the 1990 FIFA World Cup and got Costa Rica into the second round. In 1990, Milutinović was hired as head coach of Costa Rica just 90 days before the World Cup. He cut the captain and other starters. Costa Rica managed to beat Scotland and Sweden and lost to Brazil, 1–0, before losing 4–1 to Czechoslovakia in the second round.Philly.com, A Soccer Coach Who Has To Win Is The U.s.'s Bora Milutinovic Good? The World Cup Will Tell, 5 June 1994, http://articles.philly.com/1994-06-05/sports/25834619_1_bora-milutinovic-world-cup-serbian-born-coach

United States (1991–95)

Hank Steinbrecher, general secretary of the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF), conducted the job interviews for the U.S. national team head coach position. American coaches had not proved their worth on the international stage, as the United States had lost all three games in the 1990 World Cup finals under Bob Gansler. When the USSF's search began in 1991, the emphasis was not so much on experience, but on finding a coach who could squeeze the last drop of potential out of a lightly regarded team, and Milutinović's name came up again and again.Los Angeles Times, WORLD CUP '94: 35 DAYS AND COUNTING : Bora! Bora! Bora? : Milutinovic Enjoyed World Cup Success With Mexico and Costa Rica, but the United States Might Be His Biggest Challenge, 13 May 1994, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-13-sp-57331-story.html He had coached first Mexico, then Costa Rica to surprising World Cup success.

Milutinović left no doubt about who ran the team, cutting two U.S. players, Peter Vermes and Desmond Armstrong, board members of the national federation, from his World Cup team. Milutinović further cut Bruce Murray, the all-time leading U.S. goal scorer. When Alexi Lalas first showed up at training camp, Milutinović told him to get a haircut or get off the team.

Milutinović coached the U.S. national team at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, hosted in the United States, where the team notched its first win in the World Cup since 1950 and progressed to the knockout round of the tournament for the first time since the 1930s. This was hailed as a success for a country with little soccer experience. Bora’s name was used for the 1994 World Cup set manufactured by the Upper Deck Company.

The USSF fired Milutinović on 14 April 1995, saying it wanted someone who could be both coach and administrator. Milutinović reportedly wanted no part of the administrative duties.Philly.com, World Cup-winning Coach Is Fired, Eyed By U.S. Team, 3 June 1995, http://articles.philly.com/1995-06-03/sports/25688992_1_carlos-alberto-parreira-brendan-malone-back-to-back-nba-titles

Nigeria (1997–98)

Milutinović coached the Nigerian team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. Nigeria won its group, notching a notable 3–2 upset win over Spain, and reached the knockout rounds. This was the fourth team that Milutinović had taken to the knockout rounds of the World Cup, a coaching record.The Augusta Chronicle, Nigeria advances in World Cup, 20 June 1998, http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/06/20/oth_231379.shtml

China (2000–02)

Under Milutinović's coaching, for the first time ever, the China national team qualified to be among the 32 finalists for the World Cup in 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. He was hailed as a hero in China, ending a 44-year drought, and was popularly known as Milu. However, China would lose all three of their matches and failed to score a single goal. Milutinović would resign after the tournament.

Other national teams

Honduras (2003–04)

In the summer of 2003, Milutinović was in serious negotiations to finally take over the national team at his native Serbia. Despite heavy, month-long persuasion from Serbian football officials, Milutinović turned down the offer and soon signed on to the Honduras national team. He led the team to the first round of CONCACAF qualifiers before resigning on 30 June 2004. He cited "the prevailing bad atmosphere, created by comments made by the country's managers, officials and press" as the reason for his leaving during World Cup qualifying.

Jamaica (2006–07)

On 16 November 2006, Milutinović was announced as head coach of Jamaica. On 9 November 2007, following a string of six consecutive friendly defeats, he was fired by the Jamaican FA.

Iraq (2009)

Milutinović led the Iraq national football team in group play in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup for two draws and one loss, failing to reach the knockout stage.

Club teams

Milutinović's managerial career at club level has seen more mixed success. His longest managerial spell for a single club was his tenure with UNAM of Mexico from 1977 to 1983. Several of his Pumas players ended up playing for Mexico at the 1986 World Cup.

Since then, he has managed briefly for several club teams. He managed Udinese of the Italian Serie B for nine matches in 1987. He then managed the MetroStars of Major League Soccer to the worst record in league history in 1999. He also had a brief stint in the Qatar Stars League with Al-Sadd in the 2004–05 season.

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNat.FromToRecordUNAM19771983Mexico19831986San Lorenzo19871987Udinese19871987Costa Rica19901991United States19911995Mexico19951997Nigeria19971998NY/NJ MetroStars19981999China20002002Honduras20032004Al-Sadd20042005Jamaica20062007Iraq20092009 Career total—

Managerial statistics

Year(s)NatTeam1977–1983 UNAM218965963444062991983-1986, 1995-1997 Mexico104523220501721011987 San Lorenzo844050.0821987 Udinese930633.36101988 Veracruz1988–1989 Tecos UAG1990–1991 Costa Rica930633.37131991–1995 United States9630313531.31161101997–1998 Nigeria1132627.310221998–1999 NY/NJ MetroStars33532515.22000–2002 China4620111543.575502003–2004 Honduras1024420.012142004–2005 Al-Sadd2006–2007 Jamaica611416.75152009 Iraq40310.012

Personal life

Milutinović comes from a footballing family; he and his two brothers Miloš and Milorad played together for Partizan.

His father was killed in World War II, his mother by tuberculosis soon after the war. He said he does not remember either of his parents. He was raised by an aunt, and raised playing football.

Milutinović married María del Carmen Méndez Kara of Mexico in 1986 and currently resides in Qatar. Aside from his native Serbo-Croatian, he is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian and French.

Honours

Player

UNAM Copa MX: 1974–75 Campeón de Campeones: 1975

Manager

UNAM Liga MX: 1980–81 CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 1980, 1982 Copa Interamericana: 1981

United States Gold Cup: 1991 Gold Cup: runner-up 1993

Mexico Gold Cup: 1996

See also National team managers with 100 or more matches

References

External links