China exited from its first ever World Cup finals yesterday after losing 0-3 to Turkey and without fulfilling any of the "Three Wishes" its soccer association had set ahead of the tournament.
The targets included one win, one draw and at least one goal scored.
Instead, the team led by veteran Yugoslav coach Bora Milutinovic lost all three of its matches in Group C without scoring a single goal.
"I'm truly sorry for our fans who supported us so enthusiastically," Milutinovic said. "But this was the best game we played in the World Cup (and) the players performed very well."
"Despite the disappointments, this has been a tremendous learning experience for the team and, on a more general level, for China's soccer," he said.
Milutinovic has never before failed to make the second round as a coach. He guided Mexico in 1986, Costa Rica in 1990, the United States in 1994 and Nigeria in 1998 beyond the opening round, according to The Associated Press.
One of the reasons for China's poor showing was the injuries of key players that plagued the team from the very start of the competition.
Milutinovic's game plan took a blow when Manchester City defender Sun Jihai injured his right ankle and Dundee's Fan Zhiyi hurt his calf in the first half of the opening match against Costa Rica. After that, the Central Americans scored two goals.
Milutinovic later experimented with less-experienced defenders but was unable to plug the hole left by Fan and Sun, and China lost 4-0 to Brazil last week.
While the team did not fulfill the hopes of millions of fans by qualifying into the knockout rounds, it did expose players and officials to the realities of top-level play in the World Cup.
The soccer-mad nation of 1.3 billion people, which established a national league only eight years ago, is expected to build on this experience in coming years.
Milutinovic's two-year contract with China's federation ends after the final World Cup match.
He will return to Beijing with the players to submit a report on the team's participation in the tournament.
He then plans to meet up with his Mexican wife and daughter in Japan to follow the rest of the competition.
"After that I'm ready to take several months off," Milutinovic said with a laugh. "Then, who knows, I might start looking for work again."
The man who led China to its first World Cup has no plans to continue coaching China. He has, however, suggested that more Chinese players join overseas clubs, and that league teams in China bring in more foreign coaches in order to lift the level of play ahead of the next World Cup.
Officials said the Chinese team does not have any matches scheduled until next year when the qualifications for the 2004 Asian Cup begin.
The Olympic team, which includes several promising younger members of the World Cup squad, will participate in the Asian Games in October under the leadership of assistant coach Jin Zhiyang.
Yesterday's match against Turkey was Milutinovic's 20th World Cup game. Asked if he would consider retiring, Milutinovic, 62, laughed and replied: "No, no, if I retire I'm going to die immediately."
(eastday.com June 14, 2002)
