Naples, ITALY, October 12 (AP) - Predrag Mijatovic and Alessandro Del Piero scored as Italy and Yugoslavia played to a 1-1 draw Saturday night in the featured matchup of Group 9 in Euro 2004 qualifying.
Mijatovic, the former Fiorentina striker who recently signed with second-division Spanish club Levante, put the visitors in front in the 28th minute. Del Piero, star of Italian champion Juventus, brought the hosts even in the 39th.
Italy moved atop its group with four points following its 2-0 win at Azerbaijan last month, while Yugoslavia gained its first point after its opening match of the year-long qualifying slate.
In Saturday's other Group 9 match, Finland beat Azerbaijan 3-0.
The 33-year-old Mijatovic capitalized when veteran Italian defender Alessandro Nesta ran past him near the endline. The Yugoslav striker then had only goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to beat from a sharp angle, and was able to launch his shot just wide of the Juventus 'keeper into the side netting inside the far post.
Del Piero's equalizer came off a long free kick that deflected off the head of one member of a wall that Yugoslavia had set up. The ball was redirected to the opposite corner of where Yugoslavia 'keeper Dragoslav Jevric was standing, leaving him with no chance.
"You have to give them credit," said Italy defender and captain Fabio Cannavaro. "They're also great players."
Cannavaro, a Naples native, received the loudest cheers from the more than 50,000 fans at the San Paolo stadium, where former Napoli star Diego Maradona once reigned.
"A point for us is a positive result," said Yugoslav coach Dejan Savicevic, a former star player for AC Milan. "We knew they were strong in defense and attack, but they lacked great players in midfield."
Italy, the runner-up in the 2000 tournament to France, was missing several of its top players, including two of its normal starters at forward, Christian Vieri and Francesco Totti, as well as midfielder Luigi Di Biagio and defender Francesco Coco.
"The midfielders were all marked," said Italy's Andrea Pirlo. "Our only chance was to launch long balls to the forwards."
In addition, striker Filippo Inzaghi played despite a sore foot.
"I think Totti could have made a difference," Savicevic said.
Italy plays again at Wales on Wednesday, while Yugoslavia hosts Finland.
Lineups:
ITALY: Gianluigi Buffon; Luciano Zauri (Massimo Oddo, 82nd), Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Christian Panucci; Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo (Massimo Ambrosini, 78th), Damiano Tommasi; Cristiano Doni (Vincenzo Montella, 46th); Filippo Inzaghi, Alessandro Del Piero.
YUGOSLAVIA: Dragoslav Jevric; Nemanja Vidic, Zoran Mirkovic (Igor Duljaj, 8th), Sinisa Mihajlovic, Mladen Krstajic; Ivica Dragutinovic, Dejan Stankovic, Nikola Lazetic, Goran Trobok; Predrag Mijatovic (Mateja Kezman, 65th), Darko Kovacevic (Savo Milosevic, 72nd).
Referee: Mejuto Gonzalez, Spain
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