Pele believes China can buck the odds against them advancing to the second stage in their debut World Cup finals appearance this year because their coach Bora Milutinovic has led four different teams there before.

"The Chinese team has a coach with much experience and that is the most important guarantee of China advancing," Chinese state media quoted Pele as saying on Sunday.

The "soccer king" Pele and "magical coach" Milutinovic, as Chinese media refer to them, scaled the Great Wall together on Saturday as the former Brazilian international continued a promotional tour in China ahead of the Japan/South Korea World Cup which begins on May 31.

Nigeria, the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico all made the second stage of the World Cup finals with Milutinovic at the helm but soccer pundits say under-skilled and inexperienced China are a different story.

China are grouped with Brazil, Costa Rica and Turkey in the first round.

But Milutinovic brushed aside Pele's optimism.

"Each time before the World Cup, Pele always says Bora's team will definitely make gains. No matter whether it is Mexico or Costa Rica, he always says the same thing," the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News quoted Milutinovic as saying.

(China Daily March 18, 2002)