Finance Minister Dr Omar Davies yesterday brought Serbian football coach Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic closer to inking a deal with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) as the nation's next technical director, after the Government committed US$500,000 per year for the next four years towards his salary.

Dr Davies made the disclosure at a well-attended business luncheon, hosted by the Gleaner Company.
According to the finance minister, the financial commitment will be shared by the Government and a private sector company, which he did not identify.

Serbian football coach Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic (left) is about to get into a car at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston yesterday. Assisting him is JFF president Crenston Boxhill. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

The 62-year-old Milutinovic, the only man to have coached five different teams at the World Cup Finals - Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the United States (1994), Nigeria (1998), and China (2002) - is in the island on a five-day "familiarisation trip", following a two-day meeting with JFF president Crenston Boxhill in Mexico last week.

Milutinovic is yet to sign a contract, but following the outpouring of support at yesterday's luncheon, it appears only a matter of time.
"His is a familiarisation visit to continue the discussion that we have started, and hopefully to finalise these discussions in the very near future," an upbeat Boxhill told Sporting World yesterday.

He added that a part of the coach's visit, was to "meet with the various stakeholders. We did that today and it was a well-attended meeting with a wide cross-section of the private sector and it was well received".

The JFF boss was not prepared to divulge any information regarding the coach's salary, but a Sporting World source said that it "appears to be around the US$1 million" mark.

However, Boxhill did admit that a number of companies had shown an interest in supporting the bid to sign Milutinovic, "especially after he addressed the luncheon for about 15 minutes".
Some of the companies reported to have been at the meeting are Wray & Nephew, TankWeld, and Digicel.
Meanwhile, speaking with Sporting World as he toured the JFF headquarters yesterday, Bora admitted that he had all but signed the contract.

The man who is also the first coach to take four different teams beyond the first round of the World Cup Finals (all the above except China), was confident he would be the next technical director of Jamaica's football and he was looking forward to the job.

"A chance to go in Africa is exciting. I think Jamaica have a good chance to go as CONCACAF has four spots... 10 countries competing for three-and-a-half spots. It is possible to go there (South Africa)," said the man who speaks five languages fluently - Serbian, English, Spanish, French and Italian - as well as five other languages in parts.

However, he called for patience from everybody.
"We need to have patience to find good players with the best personalities to play for the national team," he said. "I need to watch players throughout the country before selecting them. I am the coach and first I need to analyse and to recognise the players to see the situation. I think we always have the chance to find 22 good players to compete with other countries."

Looking like a drawback to the charismatic Rene Simoes, who guided Jamaica's successful France 1998 campaign, Bora was clear about what he wanted in his players.

"I am a person with so much philosophy," he said. "I think you need to have intelligent players who know how to read the game, everybody likes to play spectacular football, but the big question is to have the spectacular, you have to have everything to be winning and to give the public a chance to enjoy his team.

"I like to give pleasure, my team to give our public pleasure to keep them happy so they support my team. When we are winning, then we can entertain, people like winners, it's a perfect combination... it's a package."

He said he has always respected Jamaica's football, especially at the "Office", having opposed Jamaica on numerous occasions, but he admitted that it was equally important to play well abroad.
"It's important also to play good outside of your country, we need to build the team to find players with good personality, players with team spirit. I think physically they are very good and fast."

Bora will work with local support staff when he takes up his contract, at least for the first two years, said Boxhill, who revealed that that was one of the reasons for Bora now being the front-runner and almost a certainty for the job.
The coach said he would take his time before choosing his support staff.

"I need to meet all the people around before I make a decision on the staff as we have time with no official competitions on the horizon," he said. However, if after the two-year period he is not satisfied with the support, he will have the option of bringing in his team.
But he has no doubts where he wants to be.

"For this, I believe in this team..." he said. "If I didn't believe, I would not come here to Jamaica. We have the dream, but to realise it everybody needs to do his best."

Milutinovic's coaching career at club level hasn't been nearly as illustrious. He coached the MetroStars of Major League Soccer to the worst record in league history in 1999. He also had a brief coaching stint in the Qatar league.
Milutinovic became a Mexican citizen and is married to a Mexican.

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