Stojkovic looks on bright side

Dragan Stojkovic, president of the Yugoslav Football Association (FSJ), looked to accentuate the positive despite the trouble that followed last night's friendly between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia in Sarajevo.

'Ticket to a better future'
More than 25 people were injured in street violence after the match, including 19 policemen, but the players themselves maintained a spirit of fair play on the pitch at least during the Yugoslavians' 2-0 victory. Stojkovic, who praised the "good will" of both sides, said: "The game in Sarajevo is ticket to a better future for both teams."

'More than a game'
The former national team playmaker added: "This was more than a game. In the last period we have had excellent relations with the Bosnian FA [NSBiH] and they will get even better. The match shows that bad times and bad memories are behind us. I hope to see the Bosnian team very soon in Belgrade."

Mixed happily
An Under-21 match between the two nations was played immediately before the senior international and the four sets of players were escorted back into central Sarajevo at the end of the evening for a reception at the city's Holiday Inn hotel. There, players and journalists from both countries mixed happily. 

Low attendance
Organisers had feared trouble from the Bosnian Serbs who travelled to the match from the Serb region of Bosnia to support Yugoslavia but they showed up in small numbers and were cordoned off by police. Indeed only 10,000 people attended the match in the 35,000-capacity Olimpic stadium, with some Sarajevo inhabitants, feeling the match was played too soon after the war, deciding to stay away.

First meeting since war
The international was the first official match between the two countries since the conflict and took place in a city besieged by Serb forces, who were backed by Yugoslavia, during the war in Bosnia from 1992-95.