Milutinovic to Strive for a Bright Future of Chinese Football

Milutinovic vowed to build a new Chinese soccer squad and to launch another campaign to enter the World Cup Finals, China Daily reports.

He said bringing the Chinese to 2002 World Cup sites in Japan and Korea was his "sole goal" for the next two years during a news conference in Beijing. To fulfill this long-standing goal, the experienced coach said the team should train with a busy schedule of playing more and more high-level international matches.

China has never before qualified for the World Cup Finals despite the efforts of the past decade. But Milutinovic said he had a thorough idea of what to do to organize "a more competitive team" and had started his preparations.

He will lead the team to play Sino-Japanese Contest 15th this month and later in his hometown with Yugoslavia national team.

According to officials, Milutinovic has urged the authorities to organize four or more international contests before the World Cup qualifiers next year.

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