started with a 1–0 win over Ireland in Belgrade, before beating Malta 3–0 in Ta' Qali. The home fixture against the Maltese followed, but was moved to Thessaloniki, Greece due to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The team won 4–1. The first match against Croatia took place in Belgrade after the bombing ended, and was interrupted due to a power outage at the beginning of the second half, resuming after 43 minutes and eventually finishing 0–0. A 2–1 defeat against Ireland in Dublin was followed by victories home and away against Macedonia (3–1 and 4–2 respectively), meaning that Yugoslavia needed to win its final qualifier against Croatia in Zagreb, or to draw with Ireland failing to beat Macedonia in Skopje, in order to qualify automatically for Euro 2000. In the event, Ireland conceded an injury-time equaliser, meaning that Yugoslavia's 2–2 draw with the Croatians put them through. The draw for the finals placed Yugoslavia in Group C along with Spain, Norway and another former Yugoslav republic, Slovenia. The Slovenians took a 3–0 lead in the first game at the Stade du Pays de Charleroi, but three goals in six second-half minutes enabled Yugoslavia to secure a 3–3 draw. The team then beat Norway 1–0 in Liège, thanks to an early Savo Milošević backheel strike. The final group game, against Spain in Bruges, saw the Yugoslavs take the lead three times, before a Gaizka Mendieta penalty and an Alfonso strike in injury-time secured a 4–3 win for the Spaniards and top spot in the group. Yugoslavia nonetheless finished second, level on points with Norway but ranked ahead due to its victory in Liège. In each of the three games, the team had one player sent off (Siniša Mihajlović, Mateja Kežman, and Slaviša Jokanović, respectively). In the quarter-finals, Yugoslavia was paired with the Netherlands. The co-hosts won 6–1 in Rotterdam with Patrick Kluivert scoring a hat-trick. Despite Yugoslavia's elimination, Savo Milošević was crowned the joint top scorer of the tournament alongside Patrick Kluivert. Both players scored five goals, although Milošević played one game fewer. 2002 World Cup campaign Ilija Petković replaced Boškov as head coach in July 2000. For the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Yugoslavia was drawn in Group 1 with Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg. After winning against Luxembourg, Petković was sacked and replaced with a three-pieced team which consisted of Boškov, Dejan Savićević and Ivan Ćurković. Despite