WORLD SPORTS SCENE : Though He Isn’t Fluent, Milutinovic Knows Body English

It’s like the emperor who had no clothes. U.S. Soccer Federation officials insist that their new coach, Bora Milutinovic, speaks excellent English, while reporters who try to interview him without an interpreter know he doesn’t. Believe us, guys, English is not one of his five languages.

Yet, Milutinovic, unlike his misunderstood predecessor, Bob Gansler, has the ability to communicate, which should make the Yugoslav very popular here when he learns to speak English as well as he does Spanish, French, Russian and Serbo-Croatian.

For instance, Milutinovic, who will be on the sidelines with the U.S. team for the first time Sunday in a game against Uruguay at Denver’s Mile High Stadium, has made it clear that the players in his Colorado training camp need to pack a lifetime of experience into the next three years to be competitive at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

He compares them to a fellow Serbian, Laker center Vlade Divac.

“Divac is a good player, but basketball doesn’t come naturally to him like it does to American professionals,” he said recently through an interpreter.

He said U.S. players need to improve technically and tactically to belong on the same field with the better European and South American teams.

Federation officials expect a crowd of 30,000 for the United States-Uruguay game at Denver. . . . Uruguay travels to Los Angeles for a tournament Tuesday and Thursday at the Coliseum, which also includes the national teams of Mexico, Chile and Paraguay. . . . As if Diego Maradona doesn’t have enough problems after his 15-month worldwide suspension and his arrest for possession and distribution of drugs, some of his furniture and other belongings, valued at $180,000, were stolen during shipment from Italy to Argentina.

John Harkes’ dream season continues. After playing in the World Cup for the United States last summer, he recently became the first American to play soccer at London’s Wembley Stadium as Sheffield Wednesday became the first second-division team since 1975 to win the English League Cup. Last Saturday, he scored a goal against Barnsley in a 3-1 victory that enhanced Sheffield’s chances of promotion to the first division. . . . England beat Turkey, 1-0, Wednesday in a European Championship qualifying game, costing each Turk player $7,000 in bonuses they had been promised for a victory.

Anita DeFrantz, president of the Amateur Athletic Foundation in Los Angeles and one of two International Olympic Committee members from the United States, has been named an associate member of the prestigious Acadamie des Sports of France. Among eight other associate members, the only American is former IOC president Avery Brundage.

Germans unite, Koreans engage in their own version of Ping-Pong diplomacy, South Africans are on the verge of returning to international sports. Now, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and Ted Turner sit down to discuss IOC recognition for the Goodwill Games. Olympic wonders never cease. . . . Although still technically at war, North and South Korea sent joint teams this week to the world table tennis championships in Chiba, Japan. The Korean women finished first, upsetting the Chinese.

The city government refused to support a bid by Sebastian Coe and others to bring the 2000 Summer Olympics to London. As a result, Manchester again was chosen by the British Olympic Assn. as its official candidate. Sydney has replaced Melbourne as Australia’s candidate. . . . Mark Spitz is expected to make his first attempt to qualify for the Olympic trials in a 100-meter butterfly race May 8 in the Canary Islands.

Commissioners from 36 sports that will be contested at the U.S. Olympic Festival, July 12-21, in Los Angeles conducted an inspection tour last weekend. “The venues are great,” said Jeff Cravens, a U.S. Olympic Committee press officer. “Our only problems are parking and traffic.” Welcome to L.A. . . . Drivers in Barcelona recently suffered through a traffic jam involving 300,000 cars and stretching 25 miles. The gridlock was blamed on construction for the 1992 Summer Olympics. There are 420 cars for every 1,000 residents in Barcelona, second-highest ratio in the world.

But what really burns up the people of Barcelona? Most of the Barcelona Dragons’ games in the World League of American Football might have to be moved out of the city next year because their home, Montjuic Stadium, is reserved for the Olympics. The Dragons drew a crowd of 41,000 recently. . . . Track & Field News devotes virtually its entire May issue to the problem of selling the sport in the United States. There is a black and white “Day After” picture of an empty L.A. Coliseum on the cover with the headline: “What If They Gave A Track Meet And Nobody Came?”

Coaching earlier this month in Houston against his former team for the first time in a dual meet since he defected from Romania 10 years ago, Bela Karolyi was emotional. But not for sentimental reasons. He thought his U.S. women’s team was robbed by the Romanian judges.

“They got democracy, but they sure have to learn how to use that democracy,” he said. “They must learn to appreciate the opposition and act (fairly). It’s very painful to see my former countrymen not act civilized.”

The U.S. Classic Nationals Women’s Gymnastics meet will be held at Marina High in Huntington Beach, May 16-19. The top 18 scoring juniors and seniors will advance to the U.S. Nationals at Cincinnati, June 6-9. Most of the top senior gymnasts in the country are expected to compete, including national champion Kim Zmeskal.