The man was going to give an answer. The Serbian was on the short list to become the United States manager for the World Cup in 1994.
The 47-year-old was known for getting the most out of unfancied international sides. Costa Rica made it to the World Cup knockout stages. He proved himself to be a good private investigator.
The US Soccer Federation's president in 1991 was helping with the preparation for the tournament.
"Boa was one of the candidates that I put forward to be the national team coach, and he was one of the ones that I wanted to hire," he says.
At the time, I was living in the Bay Area. I was watching a game in San Jose and he asked the people in the stands if he could point him out.
He sat next to me and said that he needed to be hired. I told him I was not doing the hiring, but he said he wanted to help the US get to the second round of the World Cup.
Rinus and Carlos were the last two candidates to stand a chance. One of the most unusual preparations of a host nation in World Cup history began when Sampson put Milutinovic in front of the defense.
The USA team wasn't optimistic with three years to go before the start of the tournament. The Americans didn't have a professional league, many of the players were amateur, and they didn't have a point.
No host nation has ever failed to progress past the group stage of the World Cup, so the threat of humiliation in front of a global audience was looming large.
It had never been a question for previous hosts if they would get out of their group, but it was a real question for us.
The goal was to do that and the rest would be gravy.
The US had a coach who had a successful plan for upsetting the odds. After leading Mexico to the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, he took Costa Rica to the round of 16 four years later.
He was able to get to work.
The Serbian coach scoured the US college system, offered central contracts to 30 players and set up residency in Southern California to assemble his squad.
He says in the new book How to Win the World Cup: Secrets and Insights from International Football's Top Managers that the players needed to feel what it was like to play at the highest level.
We traveled around the world and played Sweden, Russia, North and South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. The players were mentally strong.
It was important for us to play a lot of games against other countries to learn how to do it. If you play against teams like this, you can learn a lot.
We learned the mental side of the game in training, playing with and without the ball. It was easy, but it did a great job.
The US national team had become a club side. With only four professionals playing abroad at the time, they developed an edge that could not be matched by any other team.
Many of us had never been to a club before, so our careers were completely backwards.
"Bora found a silver lining in the blood that he needed to use to our advantage."
One of the biggest challenges for national team coaches is the limited time you have together, so for the core of the team to be based in residency meant that international football was just something.
The life inside the camp was not normal. Lalas described his former coach as the "most amazing and most frustrating coach I ever played for" due to his eccentricities.
Being able to adapt would be a valuable skill working under the Serbian.
"In today's football and the last generation in most of the world, the head coach would sit down with his assistant and go over training, but Bora never did that," says Sampson, who managed the US at the 1998 World Cup.
I asked him how come he wouldn't let us know what he was going to do. He said that he had to smell the grass to know what was needed.
He'd play soccer tennis with the players for 40 minutes as part of the socialisation period prior to training and he'd see what the needs were for the day.
If you're a good enough assistant coach, all I have to do is tell you what you need to do and you can do it. You should be able to come up with a plan in 30 seconds and get it done.
A number of key decisions were made on players simply by observing their performances during the soccer tennis sessions.
A teammate made the World Cup team by playing a soccer tennis game on the last day before cuts.
"Borat played soccer tennis as well, so we knew he was serious about it." The assessment of that soccer tennis was more about how that individual or individuals approached the game together. The things they're doing, what are they doing? What is the level of competition for them? Why did they lose? Did you choose a partner?
It was hard for a lot of us to understand. He was able to test your patience like no other. There was a way to madness.
He was a mixture of Yogi Bear and Yoda, but ultimately with the respect and love for the things he made me go through, because he was testing.
His hair was a big test for him. The 96-cap defender's flowing golden locks and long beard would become synonymous with the US side during the World Cup of 1994, but his image drew the attention of the coach when he was first drawing up plans.
"Bora's assistant pulled me aside and said 'Bora wants you to cut your hair' as I had long hair."
I was angry and began to rant and rave about individualism and "this isn't right" I would have done everything I could to be a part of that team. I went to the barbershop to get my hair cut.
It was the first time that Bora saw me since I got a haircut. He nodded his head after walking in and continued on. He never said anything about my hair or how I looked after I passed the test at that time.
He wanted to see what my hair looked like. I grew my hair out and goatee from that point on. I was going to return with vengeance if I had to make that sacrifice.
A number of popular domestic players missed the cut for the final squad selection.
Even if there were four more places for third-place teams in the tournament, the group of Colombia, Romania, and Switzerland wouldn't be taken lightly.
"Borat decided that defensively we needed to be incredibly well organised and that the attitude would be that we were going to play not to lose rather than to win."
Our opponents were forced to play in front of us so they could watch us. We had enough talent in the team, whether it was a direct free-kick by Eric Wynalda in our first game against Switzerland, or the incredible play by Cobi Jones and Marcelo Balboa in the second game againstColombia.
The US got enough points to progress before their final group game after drawing with Switzerland and winning againstColombia. They earned their place in the next round despite being beaten by a single goal.
The group of US college players had accomplished their goal. They got a free hit to show off their sport to the American public when they tied Brazil in the last 16. The US had shown they could mix it with the best.
"If you're going to lose in a World Cup, then you're going to lose to the best team in the world, and that Brazil team was very good," he said.
It ended like that. You took a breath and realized you played a part in changing the way people view the game. We were proud that we left something and that we lived up to some of the expectations.
I burned the candle at both ends and milked it for all it was worth. I loved every moment and I am proud of what happened.
His goal was accomplished. He went on to manage Nigeria and China at the World Cup in 1998 and 2006 and has led five different nations at the finals.
He wouldn't experience anything like he did in 1994.
Chris Evans is the author of How to Win the World Cup.
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