Imagine a crowd of 39,873 chanting a coach`s name.
A soccer coach`s name.
A United States soccer coach`s name.
That was the improbable scenario Sunday at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the sound of ”Bora! Bora! Bora!” reverberated through the venerable arena.
The crowd was chanting the praises of Bora Milutinovic, whose U.S. soccer team had just become the improbable winners of the first CONCACAF Gold Cup Tournament.
”The players starting chanting, too,” said U.S. midfielder Paul Caligiuri. ”Bora is a peoples` coach and a players` coach.”
That combination-call it the Milutinovic mystique-has captivated both parties in the barely three months that the gypsy coach has been running the U.S. national team, just as it had previously done with the national teams of Mexico and Costa Rica.
Team USA is now 6-1-3 under Milutinovic with a five-game winning streak against other national teams, the longest such streak in its 106-year history. Its next match is Aug. 2 in Philadelphia against Sheffield Wednesday of England`s first division.
Sunday`s win over Honduras in the Gold Cup title game, decided on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie, was merely final punctuation for the most successful nine-day period in the national team`s history.
The highlight was actually a 2-0 win over Mexico before a crowd of 41,103 in Friday`s semifinals of the tournament, which included eight teams from the Central American, Caribbean and North American region. It was only the United States` third win over Mexico in 26 matches since 1934.
For Milutinovic, who still lives in Mexico City with his wife and 4-year- old daughter, the impact of that triumph made him even more of a local hero. His stature had already been guaranteed after 1986, when he coached Mexico`s national team to its best finish ever in soccer`s World Cup.
”Bora Wins The Gold Cup!” screamed a Monday headline in Mexico City`s biggest newspaper.
The big loser was Mexican national coach Manuel Lapuente. Under pressure for several months, Lapuente resigned Saturday.
”I am very, very pleasantly surprised by this tournament,” Milutinovic said Monday via telephone from Mexico City. ”I really have no explanation for how it happened.”
In its five tournament games, Team USA:
– Came from behind to beat Trinidad & Tobago 2-1 and Costa Rica 3-2.
– Routed Guatemala 3-0.
– Dominated play for the entire second half against Mexico.
– Delighted flag-waving partisans with the victory over Honduras.
”This showed that people in the United States aren`t so indifferent about soccer,” Milutinovic said.
This tournament, in fact, attracted almost as much attention as Team USA`s appearance in the 1990 World Cup. The U.S. played three of its five matches before crowds in excess of 31,000. ABC-TV named the U.S. soccer team its athlete of the week and is planning a feature on Milutinovic. A radio talk show in Las Vegas discussed the U.S. victory Monday.
To Milutinovic, whose goal is a strong showing during the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., this was mainly just another chance to evaluate the players at his disposal. Unlike most coaches, he is not taking things one game at a time. ”This will give the players confidence that we can have good results, but I can`t think match by match and win, win, win,” he said. ”I must think of 1994 and try more players. In this tournament, I used just one goalie (Tony Meola). I must see others.”
Caligiuri, who rejoined the national team just before the Gold Cup, is delighted with what he has seen of the new coach.
”His personality stresses harmony and fun,” Caligiuri said. ”At halftime against Honduras, when we felt down after missing some good chances, Bora came into the locker room and said, `What`s the problem with all these long faces? You`re playing soccer. Be happy.` ”
But Milutinovic is no Pollyanna. After the easy victory over Guatemala, he reminded the players, ”This wasn`t England or Italy or Germany.”
Yet the U.S. has hardly had its way against the Guatemalas of world soccer in the past. It had beaten Guatemala only twice in seven previous meetings, both times by one goal.
”We are improving day by day,” Milutonivic said.
Imagine what could happen in the three years before the next World Cup.
