Extraordinary security measures are being in put place to ensure the safety of 11 Croatians on the pitch and some 200 of their supporters wedged in a crowd of 58,000 Serbs in Belgrade's Red Star stadium this evening when Yugoslavia and Croatia meet in Group Eight. Even by sport's most volatile standards, this threatens to be an unforgettable occasion as the tribes prepare for football warfare for the first time since the break up of the Balkans in 1991.

Not for years has an international game provoked as much agitation or stirred so many base feelings. Originally scheduled for March 27th, the game was postponed because of imminent NATO air strikes on Serbia.

Now, in the uneasy peace in that troubled region, old passions are once more surfacing as UEFA brace themselves for the consequences of their bland indifference in refusing to segregate the Balkan nations in the draw for the championship back in January of last year.

In an obvious attempt to send out signals to both sides, UEFA have appointed Kim Milton-Nielsen to take charge of the game. Nielsen is the Danish referee who dismissed David Beckham when England lost to Argentina in the World Cup.

The Dane's challenge will be to preserve an element of normality in a very abnormal situation, a task scarcely helped by the noises emanating from the respective camps yesterday.

Addressing members of his own press yesterday, Croatian manager Miroslav Blazevic said: "However much we pretend that it's only sport, the truth is that it's much more than that. I cannot recall ever feeling so nervous before a game for no matter where I go people ask `are we going to beat them'.

"Yugoslavia don't have a weak spot in their team and I'm sure they will do everything in their power to win. They will be fanatically motivated. If we win, we will dedicate our victory to the Croatian people for they have been with us heart and soul."

The message from Yugoslavia's new manager Vujadin Boskov was more temperate, but equally urgent: "We don't want this to become a political game, but the circumstances are such that it has already been branded as a match for national pride."

Mick McCarthy had planned to attend the game, but, like members of the international sporting press hoping to witness this monumental exercise in tribalism, was forced to abandon those plans when restrictions on international air travel into Belgrade were re-imposed earlier this month.

Now he will content himself with watching a telecast of the game on TV3 and, when battle is done, he expects Yugoslavia to be triumphant. "I expect them to win because they are the home team, just as I'd expect Ireland to win if we were playing in Dublin. The reality is, however, that our qualification hopes are in our own hands. If we don't do the business in our remaining games it doesn't really matter who wins tomorrow."

A major blow to Yugoslavia's hopes is the loss of Japanese-based captain Dragan Stojkovic. Vladinir Jugovic and Dejab Savicevic are also missing through injury, but Stojkovic's absence is clearly the bigger blow in as much as it deprives them of their principal supply route to striker Predrag Mijatovic.

Slaven Bilic is missing from the Croatian line-up, but Blazevic will be able to call on the rich skills of Zvonimir Boban and Lazio striker Alen Boksic, both of whom have recovered from recent injuries.

Yugoslavia: Kocic (Crvena Zvezda Belgrade); Mirkovic (Juventus), Djorovic (Celta Vigo), Djukic (Valencia), Mihajlo- vic (Lazio); Jokanovic (Deportivo Coruna), Dejan Stankovic (Lazio), Nadj (Oviedo), Jovan Stankovic (Mallorca); Mijatovic (Fiorentina), Milosevic (Zaragoza).

Croatia: Ladic (Croatia Zagreb); Stimac (Derby County), Soldo (VfB Stuttgart), Simic (Inter Milan), Tudor (Juventus); Jarni (Real Madrid), Stanic (Parma), Asanovic (Panathinaikos), Boban (AC Milan), Jurcic (Croatia Zagreb); Suker (Arsenal), Vlaovic (Valencia).