It is Bruce Lee time as China makes it to World Cup

By Joseph Opio China 1 Oman 0 ASK any ordinary Ugandan casually whether China has been to the soccer World Cup before, and you will be shocked by the range of answers you get. One popular one— especially by those who have watched a little too many kungu-fu films and Bruce Lee action— is that China was there before, but were banned becuse of their extra-ordinary abilities. Stories abound of goalkeepers seing more than one ball, or worse seeing a lion instead of a ball charging at them. Several people harbour the thought that the Chinese possess immense athletic and acrobatic abilities. Blame it all on Hollywood that leaves its fans imagining that with the employment of the antics seen on screen, the Chinese would become sporting immortals. The truth is that those stories are in people’s imaginiations, and China have never been to the World Cup before. The world’s most populated country qualified for the first time ever yesterday, beating contenders Oman 1-0. China is a success-starved nation soccer-wise which has just broken its World Cup qualification jinx. Names like Jiang Jin, Li Tei, Yu Genwei and skipper Fan Zhiyi might sound like part of the cast in an old Jackie Chan martial arts movie but in Beijing , these are part of the footballing tidal wave that has swept through Asia, leaving most in total admiration. And the brain behind the writing, direction and stage production of this new script is the usual culprit — the globetrotting Yugoslav, Bora Milutinovic. It was widely reported that the 57-year-old silver-haired tactician had pledged to “jump off the Great Wall” if China failed to qualify for Japan-Korea 2002, a pledge he later denied. Again blame Hollywood. Having led a record four nations in three continents to the revered soccer showpiece — Mexico, Costa Rica, USA and Nigeria— his prior warning to the Chinese to delay the uncorking of champagne bottles read like false modesty. Chinese are already highlighting the fact that previous teams handled by the man, affectionately known as “Milu” in Beijing, never succumbed to a first round World Cup exit— Mexico were quarter finalists. But that is again wishful thinking because, China that has never been to soccer’s greatest showpiece, will need a bit of Kungu-fu magic to even win a game in Korea/Japan next June 2002. ends