Bora: This is my biggest miracle (News Feature)

By Peter Auf der Heyde Jun 21, 2009, 7:56 GMT

Johannesburg - Bora Milutinovic, also called the Miracle Worker, has the distinction of coaching five different teams at the World Cup finals.

He took four of them past the first round (Mexico, 1986; Costa Rica, 1990; the United States, 1994 and Nigeria, 1998) and failed only with China in 2002.

In April, he was appointed coach of Iraq and given a short-term contract with the task of coaching the side at the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Before playing his first game, the Serbian-Mexican said that it was a tough job. 'Perhaps this is the biggest challenge I have faced in my career.'

He added that he had no hesitation in taking the job though. 'When I was invited to come to Iraq I was very happy because of the people in Iraq. I have been to Baghdad for several days and I could see how football crazy they were and I wanted to keep them happy.'

He said that he could see that his players also had a very strong bond with their country. 'I admire them for that. I realized that despite all the difficulties in Iraq, they were determined to bring some joy to the people by playing well.'

Milutinovic's task with the Iraqi side effectively ended Saturday evening when the team was knocked out of the competition.

Going into their final game the Asian champions needed to beat New Zealand in Johannesburg's Ellis Park and hope that South Africa lose to Spain in the other group game that was being played in Bloemfontein at the same time.

But even though Spain managed to beat South Africa 2-0, Iraq failed to score against the All White's and finished third in Group B with two points from their three matches.

For Milutinovic the Confederations Cup campaign was a success though. 'This is my biggest miracle, really,' he told the German Press Agency dpa.

'The team did a great job, it is impossible for me to be disappointed with that. I only had a few weeks with them and we had to go to another country to prepare for the tournament.

'They make the best effort, they do everything they had to do, I will not look for any excuses. Against New Zealand they did not score, that was the only thing.'

The 64-year-old, who together with his two brothers played for Partizan Belgrade before moving to AS Monaco, said that he was not surprised that his players seemed very tired at the end of the game against New Zealand.

'When you play three tough games in seven days, you will be tired. It is impossible not to be tired. Really, they made an incredible job. I am so proud of them.'

He said that he could understand that the players were disappointed, even though he told them they had no reason to be disappointed.

'I told them congratulations, they make a beautiful job. They make everything possible, but for them it is not easy. But I can't do anything else, my contract is finished.'

Milutinovic said he was now looking forward to enjoying South Africa in a different way and watching some of the other teams.

Surprisingly, Milutinovic has not only coached many more national teams than clubs in his career, he has also had much more success with national teams than with the clubs he has coached.

Asked if he would be back to South Africa next year, possibly coaching one of the countries at the World Cup finals, he said that he had no plans at the moment. 'But in football you can never say what will happen. Everything changes so fast.'