Asian lure for Yugoslav coaches

IMAGINE A chief coach leaving his national team abruptly in the midst of a World Cup qualification campaign. After just five months on the job. And immediately after winning a 13- nation tourney!

Well, these are trying times for Yugoslav soccer. Its head coach Ilija Petkovic put in his papers after guiding his team to the Sahara Cup triumph in Kolkata the other day. After his resignation, Petkovic rushed to China and joined Shanghai Shenhua, the national league champion there, as its coach.

Just like Yugoslavia, the country's football has weathered many a storm, including an attempt to `take over' its national association, Futbalski Savez Jugoslavije (FSJ), by a political group three months ago. And when the FSJ hunts for a man to replace Petkovic, it will be the fifth time it will be doing so in two years.

Asia, and specifically China, seems to be the hot destination for Yugoslav coaches these days. Three of its last four head coaches quit the top job and went to China. Yugoslav Bora Milutinovic is the current Chinese national coach and Saudi Arabia has dangled a juicy carrot for record goal-scorer Slobodan Santrac, Yugoslavia's chief coach for the 1998 World Cup.

And critics back in Yugoslavia attacked the team's trip to India saying that it was meant just to place the country's coaches and players on the `shop window'.

It's true, Yugoslav coaches are hunting for greener pastures. And the higher they climb in the Yugoslav set-up, the better the bargaining becomes. For they become familiar faces to the world. Even in India, some of them were making discreet enquiries about their career prospects here.

Though he was reluctant to discuss the Chinese offer during the Kochi leg of the Sahara Cup, Petkovic admitted that Asia offered exciting prospects for both coaches and players.

``Asia is getting very big. It's making big strides, with Japan and South Korea showing the way. It has a great future. And it has a lot to learn from our unique system,'' said the 56-year-old Petkovic, through his assistant coach Vladislav Bogicevic, who acted as the interpreter. ``We copy nobody, we have a specific and unique way of tapping talent,'' he said.

``Every club in Yugoslavia has six teams, in varying age-groups, which means there is a solid youth programme. The first group is the `pioneers' (below 10 years), then we have the under 12, 14, 16, 21 and finally the professionals. We have 18 teams in the pro league,'' explained Petkovic, who played for Yugoslavia 43 times, including the 1974 World Cup.

Every age-group has a national league. And the national coaches scout around, pick talented players and groom them further to the higher level. And each club has at least four coaches - a professional coach, an assistant coach, a conditioning coach and a goalkeeper coach.

Every week the coaches hold discussions and report to the head coach. The chief coach wields a lot of power. His is the last word on the selection of players and he also lays out a system that is followed by all other coaches. Thus there is a continuity in thought and action.

Unfortunately, the war and the break-up of the country created havoc with sport in Yugoslavia. ``In six years, between 1992 and 1998, football suffered a lot. We could not take part in the 1994 World Cup and many other tournaments owing to the UN sanctions, and many of our players and coaches went abroad,'' said Petkovic, who has coached teams in Japan, Switzerland and Greece.

With the country producing hundreds of top-class coaches every year, the trend of going abroad and earning big bucks gained momentum in the last few years. For the war and economic depression hurt everybody. Fortunately, with Yugoslavia ranked No. 9 in the latest FIFA rankings, its coaches and players have become a precious commodity. And expensive too. Petkovic's Chinese contract will be worth around $500,000 per year.

For football to grow in India, professinalism should come in a big way. ``We've been professionals for a long, long time, so it's easy for us, it comes naturally,'' said Petkovic.

``India is a big country, there are a lot of talented and potential players. But football is not the number one sport in your country. That should change. For the sport to grow, your players and coaches must be financially secure, only then will they be confident and independent,'' he said.

India has to have many foreign coaches and players. And they should have a good coaching system and a strong federation to back the system, said Petkovic.

For now, football is growing at a rapid pace in Asia. Early discussions are on to have a three-nation `Far East League' among Japan, Korea and China.

And as Asia makes its climb on the world charts, there will be a strong Yugoslavian hand supporting it.

To guide and to hold. To lure too!

STAN RAYAN

Kochi

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