Miracle man with China in his hands

At first, his hosts feared his mind was as untidy as his hair as he expounded his theories of "happy soccer" which preached that his players could have fun while they worked. This was almost seen as sacrilegious and Fan Zhiyi, his captain and former Crystal Palace defender, moaned that he could not communicate.

Yet, as he got results, his hosts came to embrace his strange but winning ways, usually forgiving him anything, like apparently even not being able to name a single one of his players after months in the job. Now, Fan just calls him a genius. He can be a benign despot, he can be outrageous or a

Now, though, he just notes ruefully that there'll be the odd billion ready to chuck him off said wall should China make the early exit which looks almost inevitable after losing 2-0 to Costa Rica. joker, but all the time, it's the ruffled charm that usually has everyone eating out of his hand. Yet he'll never have needed that quality more now that 500 million Chinese viewers have become disenchanted watching their boys lose to a tiny central American country with a population approximately 400 times fewer.

Seventeen years ago, some China fans went on the rampage after they lost to Hong Kong, but these days they demand much, much more. After the Costa Rica defeat, Chinese chatrooms were inundated with angry comments, while the Chinese media lambasted the defensive tactics.

The team had expected this, having already broadcast a message to the nation pleading for them not to expect too much. But it fell on deaf ears and even star striker Hao Haidong was moved to make a grovelling apology to the nation. Bora has simply retained his optimism. "When you make your effort, why do you need to give an apology?" he scolded Haidong. So what if Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho would be on the rampage? So what that his side would be without two key defenders? Playing Brazil would be a "pleasure", he reckoned. What would he tell his players? "Just enjoy," he smiled.

Mind, with both Brazil and Turkey to come, it will be mightily sad if we don't see one of Bora's famed victory celebrations. After his tactics had been widely criticised in Nigeria, Milutinovic's response after guiding them to a remarkable win over Spain was to turn up at the post-match conference pointedly wearing a cloak usually only donned by tribal chiefs. He likes everyone to know who's in charge.

He's been sacked by Mexico and the US but, generally, he knows not to outstay his welcome. He's neither a complete mercenary nor a missionary, but he's a bit of both. Whatever he achieves here, he says, he'll be off after this World Cup.

Earlier this year, he was guest of honour at the St Patrick's Day ball in Beijing organised by the city's small Irish community.

As usual, he apparently wooed everyone, prompting the thought that, should Mick McCarthy's heart not be able to stand too much more of all this on and off field drama, Dublin might just be the perfect sixth stopover for the World Cup's miraculous charmer.

Bora's World Cup record
Bora loses linchpins