Milutinovic (a) ‘Steps Down’ or (b) Is Pushed : Soccer: Either way, he’s out after four years as U.S. national team coach, leaving him confused, unhappy, angry and philosophical.

Bora Milutinovic, the smiling, tousle-haired Slav who coached the United States to some of its greatest successes on the soccer field in the last four years, is out.

But whether he resigned as national team coach or was fired is open to debate.

According to the U.S. Soccer Federation, which issued a two-page release Friday morning and then, in effect, slammed the shutters and waited for the storm to pass, Milutinovic “stepped down as coach.”

According to Milutinovic, he was forced out.

“I didn’t step down,” he said. “They asked me to step down.”

Reached at his home in Laguna Niguel Milutinovic sounded alternately confused, unhappy, angry and philosophical, the mood changing with each question.

“This is life,” he said at one point, his voice shaking. “This is soccer.”

His anger stems from having turned down at least half a dozen attractive coaching positions while waiting for the USSF to decide whether it would renew his contract, which expired Dec. 31.

Chile wanted him as its national team coach. So did Ecuador and Uruguay. Japan tried to lure him with offers to coach either its national team or a J-League team. Top first-division clubs in Argentina tried to sign him. Most attractive of all, AS Monaco, one of the leading clubs in the French first division, made him a lucrative proposal that would have put him back in the forefront of the game in Europe.

But Milutinovic wanted to stay in the United States. He is happy here, he said; his wife Mari and daughter Darinka like California, and he enjoyed working with American players and looked forward to trying to qualify the United States for the 1998 World Cup in France.

But for reasons that remained unclear Friday and may be political, the USSF leadership decided on a change.

Instead of giving Milutinovic a new contract as national team coach, the federation offered him a position that added several layers of responsibility, including overseeing the development of U.S. coaches and national team players in all age groups.

“I told them, to do this job I don’t have time,” he said. “There are so many (international) competitions. It’s impossible.”

In other words, the contract was structured in such a way as to make it impossible for him to accept. The federation made him an offer it knew he would refuse, so that the blame, if any, for his leaving would be deflected from the USSF.

Milutinovic said Friday he believes Hank Steinbrecher, the federation’s general secretary and U.S. soccer’s second-most powerful figure, was behind his ouster.

Neither Steinbrecher nor USSF President Alan Rothenberg returned calls Friday.

“Hank and Alan told me they’re not doing any interviews,” federation spokesman Tom Lange said. “Basically, the release is all we have to comment on this whole thing.”

Milutinovic said he was at a loss to explain why the federation acted as it did.

“I think it was Chicago,” he said repeatedly, referring to USSF headquarters where Steinbrecher is based. “I know this thing comes from Chicago. I think it was Hank who decided. Nobody else has the power.

“How do I feel? I am unhappy. It is normal. I think we (he and his assistant coaches) did something good for soccer (in the United States). We played different than before. This is very important.”

Appointed national team coach on March 27, 1991, Milutinovic overhauled the U.S. team, changing its approach to the sport, its style of play and its character.

Soccer became enjoyable for America’s top players, who, in contrast to the dull, defense-oriented teams of the past, were encouraged to attack, to pass the ball around, to play to win rather than not to lose.

Milutinovic made the game fun, and his players responded by producing some startling results, not the least of which was reaching the second round of the 1994 World Cup, a goal many had thought impossible.

“We had some historic wins,” he said. “For example, against England, against Ireland, against Colombia, against Mexico. It’s not easy to forget this.”

In his first game in charge of the team, on May 5, 1991, the United States upset Uruguay, 1-0, at Mile High Stadium in Denver. Coincidentally, his final game as national team coach also was against Uruguay, a 2-2 tie at Dallas’ Cotton Bowl on March 25.

In between came some of the most memorable performances by an American team, including:

--A 4-3 victory on penalty kicks over Honduras at the Coliseum on July 7, 1991, in the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, giving the United States its first regional championship.

--A 2-0 semifinal victory over Mexico in the same tournament, a result that prompted Mexican Coach Manuel LaPuente’s immediate resignation.

--A 1-1 tie with Italy that gave the United States the championship of U.S. Cup ‘92, following a 3-1 victory over Ireland and a 1-0 victory over Portugal.

--An astonishing 2-0 victory over England at Foxboro Stadium on June 9, 1993, a result that helped lead to English Coach Graham Taylor’s resignation.

--A 1-0 victory over Mexico before more than 90,000 fans at the Rose Bowl shortly before the 1994 World Cup.

--A 1-1 tie with Switzerland in the Pontiac Silverdome in the first World Cup game played indoors.

--A 2-1 World Cup victory over Colombia at the Rose Bowl that helped propel the United States into the second round, a feat it had not achieved in 64 years.

Milutinovic’s overall record in his four years was 30-35-31.

In the end, though, successes on the field were not enough. After the World Cup, Milutinovic said he would remain as coach if Rothenberg was reelected USSF president. That endorsement helped Rothenberg win the election last fall.

The national team players’ reaction to Milutinovic’s ouster was one of surprise and regret.

“It’s shocking,” defender Paul Caligiuri told the Associated Press. “It’s definitely a big loss for U.S. soccer. The coach became a great personality, an ambassador for soccer in the United States. He’s brought this team a lot of success and credibility. We’re basically giving that up for a new start again.”

Striker Eric Wynalda said: “I don’t really think he changed anybody as an individual; he changed us as a team.

“He brought in a belief to a group of people that we were good and we could be successful. The most important thing he did was that he brought a bunch of guys together and taught them to be a team--I wouldn’t hesitate to say a family.”

Milutinovic said he would not help the federation find a replacement. One who has been prominently mentioned is former Portuguese national team coach Carlos Queiroz.

Steve Sampson, former Santa Clara coach and assistant on the World Cup team, will serve as interim coach, taking the team to Brussels for its next match, on April 22 against Belgium.

Whether a new full-time coach will be in place in time for U.S. Cup ’95 in June or for the Copa America tournament in Uruguay the following month was but one of the many questions left unanswered Friday.

For Milutinovic, meanwhile, the whole world beckons, even the prospect of working in Major League Soccer.

“If tomorrow MLS offered me a job, I would have some interest,” he said. “I like living here.”

Chances are, there will be far more attractive offers than that coming Milutinovic’s way in the coming weeks.

After all, France ’98 is only three years away.