Milutinovic, who resigned after China's debacle in the World Cup finals, said he did not think too much about his future. "I will go back to Mexico City to spend some time with my family, and then I will ponder over my future," he said.

Yan Shiduo, vice president of China's Football Association, praised Milutinovic for the contribution the Serb made to China's soccer. "Mr. Milutinovic completed the main job we asked him to do and steered China into the World Cup finals for the first time. We'll never forget what he did for China's soccer," he said.

Debutant China performed badly in the World Cup finals, losing all their three group matches with scoring no goals. This left Milutinovic, who received no offer until now, an unpleasant memory.

He said: "Generally speaking, I enjoyed myself very much in China. But after the World Cup I was in a rather bad mood."

Bora Milutinovic, known as "The Miracle Worker" for having guided Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States and Nigeria into the second round of past World Cup finals, steered the Chinese team to a convincing run of 12 victories, one draw and one defeat throughout the Asian qualifiers. The historic breakthrough has not only sent the soccer-mad country into ecstasy once again three months after China was awarded the right to stage its first Olympic Games in 2008 in July, but led to nationwide worship of Milutinovic who helped China realize its long-awaited dream.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2002)