Ironically, the last official match Yugoslavia played before UN sanctions were introduced was against the Faeroe Islands on Oct. 16, 1991.
Yugoslavia, which was already at war with its neighbor Croatia, won that game 5-0 in a European Championship qualifier. Yugoslavia was then eliminated from the final tournament in 1992 because of the United Nations embargo and replaced by Denmark -- which went on to win the competition.
Now, Yugoslavia is comprised of Serbia and Montenegro only. But it is still a powerful team, consisting almost chiefly of stars playing throughout the world.
"We're big favorites, but we have to be careful," said midfielder Vladimir Jugovic, who plays for defending Italian league champions Juventus. "We must give our fans a triumphant return."
Also included in the Yugoslav lineup for Wednesday night's match are such stars as midfielders Dejan Savicevic of AC Milan; Predrag Mijatovic of Valencia and Milinko Pantic of Atletico Madrid in Spain; Dragan Stojkovic, one of the best players in the Japanese league; Sasa Curcic of England's Premier League side Bolton; defender Sinisa Mihajlovic of Italy's Sampdoria and striker Savo Milosevic of English League Cup winner Aston Villa.
The only Yugoslav league player on the team for the game at the sold-out Belgrade Red Star stadium will be goalkeeper Aleksandar Kocic of Vojvodina Novi Sad.
"We shouldn't have much trouble with the Faeroe Islands," AC Milan's Savicevic said. "The only problem I see is the fact that this team has had little chance to play together."
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International soccer finally comes to Bosnia when the home team takes on fellow Balkan minnow Albania in a friendly exhibition game.
Four months into a peace deal that ended almost four years of war, the Bosnians have decided it is safe enough to host visiting teams -- helped by the presence of a 60,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force.
That the nation's shell- and mortar-pocked main stadium in Sarajevo is unusable is a minor snag. The game will be played in the modest surroundings of the central Bosnian town of Zenica, 48 kilometers northwest of the capital. Less simply resolved, however, is the problem facing Bosnian coach, Fuad Muzurovic, in his quest to assemble a team.
Many of the best pre-war players from Bosnia have either quit or were part of the million-strong refugee exodus from the war-wracked nation.
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