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Velibor ‘Bora’ Milutinovic
Born: Sept. 7, 1944, in Yugoslavia
Nickname: Bora, The Magician

• Milutinovic is known throughout the world as a soccer wizard able to take a team on short notice and achieve success.

• Coach Bora Milutinovic has coached five teams – Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), USA (1994), Nigeria (1998) and China (2002) – at the world's most prestigious football event, the FIFA World Cup

• He led Mexico to the quarter-finals at the 1986 World Cup, its highest finish.

• He took over Costa Rica just before the 1990 World Cup and stunned many by getting the team into the second round. He was introduced by then U.S. Soccer Federation President Alan Rothenberg in 1991 as a "miracle worker" and proceeded to qualify the United States for the second round in 1994.

• He qualified Mexico for the 1998 World Cup in 1997 before coaching Nigeria for France '98. Once again, he took that team into the second round before it was eliminated by Denmark.

• Four of those teams were also able to progress to the second round of the competition, the only exception being China, which failed to do so at the 2002 World Cup.

• Milutinović became a Mexican citizen and is married to a Mexican national.

Timeline with teams

• 1986 - MEXICO: Took them to the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, their highest ever finish.

• 1990 - COSTA RICA: Came on board just before the World Cup. Stunned many by getting the team into the second round.

• 1991 - UNITED STATES: Carried the team to the 1994 World Cup then proceeded to qualify it for the second round.

• 1997 - MEXICO: Coached and qualified the team for the 1998 World Cup.

• 1998 - NIGERIA: Coached Nigeria for France '98 and also took that team to the second round.

• 2002 - CHINA: Took team to the World Cup after four decades of disappointment