He partcipated in the World Cup as a coach with 5 teams. What does Bora Milutinovic think about World Cup 2006?

FIFAworldcup.com: Bora, have you watched all the games played so far?
Bora Milutinovic: This is the World Cup so I follow events at the tournament closely. I didn’t watch every game, but a lot of them.

What is your general impression of the 2006 FIFA World Cup?
The tournament is very well organised and everything is first class.

Three of your former teams played at this tournament.
Yes, I watched two of Mexico’s matches, one of Costa Rica’s and two of the US team’s.

Are you disappointed that they were all out after the Round of 16?
Sort of. Definitely I would be happier had they played better so I could watch them from the stands. But please keep in mind that this is the World Cup, with top-class teams battling against each other for the one trophy.

You guided Costa Rica to the second round at Italia 90 but this year as in 2002, they failed to get out of their group. Were they in a difficult section?
In Italy in 1990 we were also in a hard group that featured Brazil, Scotland and Sweden. We lost to Brazil 1-0 but managed two memorable victories against Sweden and Scotland to progress to the second round. But I wouldn’t say I was very frustrated just because the team went out. If you put this team in the big world football picture, you can feel it is amazing for a side from a tiny country like Costa Rica to qualify for the last 32 and rub shoulders with the world giants.

The current Costa Rica team packed their bags for home but there is still a lot of work to do. The most important thing for a team in a World Cup is that they have a future generation that makes an impact. Only the young generation represents the football future of the country.

Despite being placed fifth in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, the USA failed to progress to the last 16. How did you view their campaign?
They lost the all-important opening match against the Czech Republic and their key player John O’Brien was not fully fit. After the opening defeat they never really found their normal form.

Did you watch Mexico’s opening match against Iran? The Asians impressed in the first half.
Football is a 90-minute game and there is no point dominating for just one half. You can see Mexico also dominated the first half against Argentina but it was the South Americans who ran out 2-1 winners. Winning a football match requires everything - a good coach, good players, morale, proper game strategy and the skills of pulling the tactical strings during the match.

Do you have any favorite team to win the tournament?
We can wait and see who is still there after the next games. I have to be fair and friendly to all the last eight teams but everyone can see that Brazil, Argentina and the host team Germany are extremely strong.

Source: WCoffsite