Legendary Serbian football coach Bora Milutinovic has accepted an offer from the Iraq football federation to take over as head coach of Iraq's national soccer team, according to Xinhua News Agency.

the "Miracle Coach" will try his luck in Iraq

Vice-president of the Iraq football federation Najih Hammud announced this decision at a press conference on April 8.

"We have reached an agreement with Bora Milutinovic; he will lead our team in the FIFA Federation Cup at South Africa in June," Najih Hammud was quoted as saying.

It is reported that Milutinovic will arrive in Iraqi capital Baghdad on April 16 and start work with the team.

Following a disappointing performance in the Gulf Cup, Iraq's former national soccer coach Viera, under whom Iraq had taken the AFC Asian Cup in 2007, had been dismissed.

Bora Milutinovic, the only person to have coached five different teams at the World Cup: Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the United States (1994), Nigeria (1998), and China (2002), and also the first coach to take four different teams beyond the first round before failing to do so with China, is nicknamed the "Miracle Coach".

(China.org.cn by Xiang Bin April 9, 2009)