Serbian soccer coach thanks Chinese president's comment(2)

"I feel that China is just like my country, I have lived there and every time I return China with the affection of the people. And I'm also very fond of Mexico, there's my house, my wife and my daughter, I coach Mexican national team for seven years and worked another 11 years as a player and coach for Pumas," he said, adding that Mexico and China are two countries that he adores and loves very much.

Milutinovic said the Chinese soccer is full of contrasts with a resurgent league with power, but with its national team absent of 2014 World Cup.

"The truth is I do not like to talk about current China soccer, because I always want to be respectful of the work of others, but I feel hurted that Chinese football can not continue the process of development to give joy to the fans," he said.

Milutinovic, who has also coached national teams of Jamaica, Honduras and Iraq after concluding his contract with China, said that Chinese soccer fans should not confuse the development of the Chinese national team with the Chinese Super League, where has recived some famous world stars in recent years such as Argentina's Diego Conca, Cote d'Ivoire's Didier Drogba and most recently the French player Seydou Keita.

"I believed that it should not be mistaken, the league is in a good financial situation, you can buy better players and hire world-class coaches as Marcelo Lippi, but to have a good selection team it is necessary to encourage youth participation in Chinese League for a balanced development," he advised.

He cited the case of England, where there is one of the best leagues in the world, but the England team has had little success in recent years and failed to reach the semifinals of World Cup since 1990.

"My advice for Chinese football is as what I have said before, is to encourage youth's involvement, we got (the ticket for the World Cup) because we had a generation of exceptional young people," he said.

Though having quitted as coach of Chinese national team for several years, Milutinovic is still very popular in Chinese social networks such as on the microblog of Sina with over 4 million followers, where he shared his adventures in the soccer world with Chinese fans.

"I have a blog there because China offered it to me. I'm much appreciated to that experience and it fills me with a lot to share what happens in my life with the Chinese people," he concluded.