Milutinovic suggests more confidence in Chinese U-23 team

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 30, 2004

Milutinovic suggests more confidence in Chinese U-23 team

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Chinese Under-23 soccer players needs to be more confident in order to overcome the "South Korea phobia" in their bid to qualify for the Athens Olympic Games, said former Chinese team coach Bora Milutinovic in Guilin on Jan. 29.

"They have to believe in themselves," said Milutinovic, who is head coach of Honduras. "Teams like South Korea and Japan are very experienced and hard competitors, so the Chinese must be fully confident of themselves in order to win."

China was drawn into the so-called "Group of Death" in the Olympic qualifier, pitted against South Korea, Iran and Malaysia.

The draw put many Chinese fans in worry that their team will suffer again from the "South Korea phobia", repeating the winless history in the past six attempts of Olympic qualification, which China only realized once in 1988.

China was left to rue over its three draws and three losses in the past six meetings against South Korea in the Olympic qualifying rounds while the senior national team tried in vain to win in any level of international matches against the Asian neighbor since 1986.

"Now China has a good U-23 team. I like the way they played, the speed, the stamina and the tactics," said the 59-year-old Serbian. Milutinovic, dubbed "the Miraculous Coach" by Chinese fans and media, took charge of the senior Chinese team in 2000 and stepped down after the World Cup where his team failed to score a single goal and win a point.

"I think they have good chances to book a ticket to the Athens Olympics," added Milutinovic, whose last name is often shortened in China as "Milu".

Milutinovic is the only coach in the world who has led five different countries, including Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States, Nigeria and China, to the World Cup finals.

Source: Xinhua

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