Belgrade, March 28 - Yugoslavia recorded an unconvincing victory in the international friendly match against China. The lone goal came early in the first half as Predrag
Mijatovic headed home a left-wing free-kick by Lazio's Sinisa Mihajlovic.
Goalscorer Mijatovic wasted two good chances. The Fiorentina striker fumbled the ball with only the keeper to beat in the 17th minute and mis-timed a volley from close range five minutes before halftime. China surprised the Yugoslavs with neat one-touch
passing throughout the first half and came close in the 29th minute,
when Ivica Kralj saved a thunderous Ma Nin Xu shot from 30 metres.
China showed resilience and went close to equalising towards the end of the
match.
Yugoslavia coach Vujadin Boskov, who said on Monday he
wanted his team to give the nation a feast at Euro 2000,
remained optimistic.
"This is only the beginning, we have a lot of friendly matches to
play and enough time to carve out a championship-winning side,"
he said.
Nenad Sakic (blue jersey,
Yugoslavia)
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China's Yugoslav coach Bora Milutinovic said: "I am proud of
my team's performance against Yugoslavia. I wish my countrymen
lots of luck at the Euro 200O finals."
Yugoslavia play Turkey on April 26 and meet China again on
May 25 in Beijing.
The Asia tour also includes a double header against South
Korea in Seoul on May 28 and 31 and a final warm-up against a
Hong Kong selection on June 3.
Belgrade, Yugoslavia, March 28, friendly international
YUGOSLAVIA - CHINA 1-0 (1-0)
Scorer: Predrag Mijatovic in the 8th minute. Partizan Stadium in Belgrade. Attendance: 10,000. Referee: Sandor Puhl (Hungary). Booked: None.
YUGOSLAVIA: Kralj (Cicovic), Sakic (Komljenovic), Djorovic (Krstajic), Jokanovic (Drulovic), Djukic (Saveljic), Grozdic, Jugovic (Mirkovic), Mijatovic (Kovacevic), Milosevic, Jovan Stankovic (Djordjevic), Mihajlovic (Bunjevcevic).
