After the Chinese National Men's Soccer Team suffered another blow
in 1997 in its long-standing struggle to enter the World Cup,
62-year-old Bora Milutinovic came to China in 2000 as head coach.
The Yugoslav came to work with a team that was no stranger to both
expectations and disappointments.
Almost from the very moment that Milutinovic first set foot on
Chinese soil, interpreter Yu Huixian has been at his side. Yu, a
graduate of Guangzhou Foreign Language Institute, came from Harbour
Construction Company in China to take up this position with the Chinese Football Association
(CFA).
Yu
served the "bridge" between the head coach and the Chinese Football
Association, the national soccer team and the soccer fans. He was
present to witness at first hand Milutinovic's joys and sorrows at
dozens of matches in China over the past two years.
On
the eve of Milutinovic's departure, Beijing TV and www.sohu.com
jointly interviewed Yu on his experiences as Milutinovic's
interpreter with the national team.
Question: Did you accept the offer to interpret for
Milutinovic because of a love of soccer or did you think of it as
just another job?
Yu: I have been a soccer fan since childhood. Honestly, it
had been my dream to be a professional soccer player. However, all
I ever managed was to be fourth substitute goalie in my
departmental team for four years during my college days.
On
learning from the sporting press that the Chinese Football
Association was looking for an interpreter for Milutinovic, I
immediately submitted my resume. So my long-held soccer dream did
come true in a way on the day when the association phoned me with
an invitation to attend an interview and I then became a member of
the national soccer team.
Question: It's been suggested that as his interpreter, you
only translated the good things for Milutinovic rather than
everything. Is this true?
Yu: This involves a technical issue in translation. It is my
view that translation concerns both the speaker and the listener
who are set in juxtaposition to each other as if engaging in a
negotiation. A good interpreter should play a proactive role in
helping both sides finally reach a position of unanimity in their
views on an issue. Milutinovic trusts his own judgment and likes to
make his views known. Naturally conflict is sometimes inevitable.
As his interpreter, I must pay special attention to both my tone
and translating technique and avoid aggravating any already
contradictory positions.
Question: Was Milutinovic aware of this "translating
technique?"
Yu: We had an excellent mutual understanding in this and
Milutinovic would joke, "You are smoothing things over again."
Sometimes events did not quite match up to Milutinovic's
expectations in his dealings with the football association, the
media, the fans and so on. He has been grateful for my help in this
respect. When sensitive questions have been raised by reporters,
I've basically tried to keep my translation as truthful as
possible. However if there was an unfortunate undertone in a
question I might make some modifications as any professional
interpreter would.
Once at a press conference, Milutinovic didn't recognize an old
reporter who had interviewed him many times before and said "You're
here for the first time then?" When translating what he said so as
to avoid possible embarrassment from both sides, I added, "You must
have had a face-lift as Milutinovic doesn't seem to recognize
you?"
As
for any hostile material published on the Internet, as a rule I
would only offer an outline translation leaving out the details.
Milutinovic has on occasion been displeased with this approach but
I did feel that it was unnecessary for him to hear everything,
especially malicious remarks.
Question: Did you do this because of a request from the
football association?
Yu: No, this was something I decided to do by myself. I felt
it was my responsibility to help Milutinovic have a light heart. I
wanted Milutinovic to be in a good frame of mind to cope easily not
only with routine matters but also with the big decisions.
Question: Could it be the case that if we had been able to
understand him perfectly without the language barrier, Milutinovic
would not have left us with such an amiable impression or he might
have fallen out with the football association long ago.
Yu: In my opinion over the past couple of years, the level
of cooperation between Milutinovic and the Chinese Football
Association has generally been very satisfactory. Milutinovic led
the national soccer team to qualify for the World Cup finals for
the first time in their history. In this respect he has done a good
job. I'm sure that on his departure he will be sad to leave China.
In his own words the coaching experience in China has occupied a
rather important position in his life.
Question: What's your impression of Milutinovic?
Yu: I would say that as a professional coach he is a man of
high caliber. In his daily life he is quite brilliant. Despite his
advancing years, he has particularly quick mental responses and can
always find the best way to handle a tough situation. For instance
when confronted by the media, he is really skilful at either
avoiding or replying to thorny questions in a tactful way. By our
standards here Milutinovic comes across as quite a smooth
character. In the eyes of Spanish-speaking people he is considered
unusually brilliant.
Question: Milutinovic is actually multilingual, isn't
he?
Yu: As a Yugoslav, Serb is Milutinovic's native language.
Milutinovic went to Mexico to play soccer at an early age. He then
got married and stayed to become a coach over there. So now Spanish
is his day to day language and also his language of business. In
addition, since he travels so widely Milutinovic speaks fluent
English.
Question: You must have seen Milutinovic in low spirits many
times. When this occurred, how did you handle him?
Yu: Honestly, when he was in a bad mood, I sometimes thought
I was like his punch bag. Let me give you an example. When China
played against Cambodian in Guangzhou, the fans on the spot
shouted, "Sack Milutinovic!" To ensure that he was not distracted
from the match, I didn't let him know what the fans were shouting
about until the game was over.
He
could not stand the fans' attacks and yelled at me in the lounge
for a quarter of an hour. After having vented his anger on me, he
went on to say calmly and properly at the press conference, "I
don't want to make any unnecessary comments on this matter. My task
is to lead the Chinese soccer team to qualify for the World Cup,
not to educate the fans."
Question: As you and Milutinovic have been so close together
in the team, have you ever been approached by the media to sell
them stories about either Milutinovic or the national team?
Yu: Yes, I had lots of calls from the media just before and
again just after the World Cup. They would try to pry something
interesting or even sensational out of me. I have refused all such
requests. As a professional interpreter engaged by the football
association, I understand clearly that my duty is to interpret for
Milutinovic, to play the role of a bridge between Milutinovic and
the players and to convey Milutinovic's tactical thinking and game
plan to the players accurately.
In
terms of dealing with the media, I believe many people in the team
including some assistant coaches and players have found themselves
in the same position as myself. Everybody is responsible for his or
her own standards of conduct. I am convinced that trying to root
out the inside story or just poking one's nose into other peoples'
private affairs is no good at all for the future of soccer in
China. We should all just concentrate on our own work and stick to
the things we do well ourselves.
Somebody once suggested that I should write a book about
Milutinovic claiming that it would surely be a best seller. Viewed
from a purely commercial angle, the publication of such a book
would likely satisfy people's curiosity by revealing the so-called
inside story but it would be of no help at all to either the
national team or to Milutinovic.
Question: There have been many negative comments on
Milutinovic's frequent appearances in advertising films following
the World Cup preliminaries. What is your opinion on this
issue?
Yu: As a matter of fact Milutinovic and I have no secrets
from each other. We have talked about this question many times.
Both of us agree that due to the national team's splendid showing
during the preliminaries, Milutinovic as head coach received a
tremendous boost to his prestige. This is a normal social
phenomenon.
It
is natural for movie stars or sports personalities to engage in
commercial activities. As the national team did not play so well in
the World Cup finals, Milutinovic's celebrity has been damaged to
some degree, and even his coaching abilities have been questioned.
This is also normal. Nonetheless, Milutinovic's achievements in
China are there for all to see. He led the national team into the
World Cup for the first time. It is not an overstatement to say
that Milutinovic has made history for soccer in China.
Question: Would you care to discuss Milutinovic's philosophy
of "happy soccer?"
Yu: First I have to clarify that as far as I know,
Milutinovic has never gone out of his way to promote a notion of
"happy soccer." Since he came to China two years ago, Milutinovic
has heard so many pessimistic statements associated with Chinese
soccer, including 44 years of fruitless efforts trying to reach the
World Cup finals, a history of heartbreak and so on. He just wants
to bring pleasure to the Chinese soccer fans. However sometimes I
have joked with him, "Look if we fail to qualify for the finals you
will become the target of hatred." He always asked me, "Do you feel
we can get into the World Cup?" He chose the well-protected
diplomatic compound to live due to his misgivings that failure
might lead the fans to come and smash up his home.
As
a matter of fact, there is no place for "happy soccer" in the
Milutinovic dictionary. What he has often said is that no matter
what kind of occupation one is engaged in, everybody should try to
enjoy doing it. This is the only way to turn the job from a heavy
burden into a pleasant enterprise.
Question: Do you think Milutinovic will be feeling bad now
that it is time for him to bow out from the soccer team?
Yu: I would say, so far so good. As you know, Milutinovic
has trained five national soccer teams successively. As a
professional coach, he is experienced enough to cope with China's
poor showing in the World Cup finals. Just as he commented after
the team lost all three matches in Group C, "Despite the
disappointments, this has been a tremendous learning experience for
the team and for China's soccer as a whole."
Question: After the World Cup, did Milutinovic have anything
to say that make a deep impression on you?
Yu: What impressed me most was his regret that the team did
not score a single goal in its three matches failing to live up to
the expectations of the fans.
Question: Was Milutinovic satisfied with the national team's
performance in the World Cup finals?
Yu: Yes and no. Of course he hoped the team would bring the
fans more pleasure by playing really well. But disappointingly the
team lost all three of its matches in Group C without scoring a
single goal.
Milutinovic has never before failed to make the second round in the
World Cup finals. He guided Mexico in 1986, Costa Rica in 1990, the
United States in 1994 and Nigeria in 1998.
In
private conversation, he once told me that compared with the teams
he had coached previously, the Chinese team was relatively weak.
Thus any high expectation for the team in the World Cup, for
example the "Three Wishes" of "one win, one draw and at least one
goal" or qualifying into the knockout rounds would have been
unrealistic.
Question: This is the last question, actually it's your
little son's question. I gave him a call before the interview and
he wants to know when he grows up and asks you about the days you
interpreted for Milutinovic, what will your answer be?
Yu:Well I have pleasant memories and it will surely have
made a lasting impression on me. I would say that to have become a
member of the national team and to have worked so closely with
Milutinovic, I feel highly honored and extremely pleased.
(china.org.cn, edited and translated by Shao Da, August 16,
2002)