| Giovanni Trapattoni was forced into many changes due to injuries and adopted Milan's all-attack set-up with Andrea Pirlo as a deep playmaker and Cristiano Doni behind former Juventus partnership Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del Piero.
However, it did not have quite the same effect as the Azzurri were too slow and did not move off the ball as well as Carlo Ancelotti's men do at club level.
There were many important stars missing for this qualifier as Francesco Totti, Christian Vieri, Marco Di Vaio, Francesco Coco, Marco Materazzi and Gigi Di Biagio were ruled out with fitness problems.
Yugoslavia, now Coached by former Milan legend Dejan Savicevic, are considered to be the most dangerous opponents in this Group and make their debut tonight.
There were many familiar faces including Lazio stars Sinisa Mihajlovic and Dejan Stankovic, plus ex-Serie A regulars Darko Kovacevic and Predrag Mijatovic. Surprisingly, Mateja Kezman was left on the bench.
Over 50,000 enthusiastic fans packed out the Stadio San Paolo and sang the national anthem so loudly they drowned out the band. Fabio Cannavaro had a lap of honour before the game and to begin with the crowd cheered whenever the local hero touched the ball.
It was Cannavaro who had the first chance with a diving header that was well-saved. Yugoslavia were forced to make a substitution after just seven minutes due to an injury.
Mihajlovic was a constant danger from set-pieces and Dragutinovic's volley on his corner was deflected out.
Andrea Pirlo slowly started to gain confidence and his splendid pass was put back into the centre by Christian Panucci, but both Cannavaro and Inzaghi failed to turn in from close range.
Wingbacks Panucci and Luciano Zauri had difficulty pushing forward and this proved a problem for the strikers.
Moments later Yugoslavia took the lead after Mijatovic took advantage of a disastrous Alessandro Nesta mistake. The Milan defender was taken by surprise and the ex-Fiorentina hitman drilled an angled drive into the far post.
The defence looked a little shaky after this surprise blow but Italy drew level through a bit of luck just before half-time. Alessandro Del Piero's free kick from 28 metres took a decisive deflection off the defensive wall and sent the goalkeeper completely the wrong way.
The Azzurri pushed forward with renewed enthusiasm and Inzaghi just failed to nod in a Del Piero cross.
Vincenzo Montella had suffered a minor ankle injury yesterday, but he recovered in time to come on for the second half in place of the disappointing Cristiano Doni for a trident attack.
Italy held much of the possession, but the final ball in was often too long.
Once again Yugoslavia were dangerous with a Mihajlovic corner turned just over by his Lazio teammate Stankovic. Gianluigi Buffon was forced to work hard with a splendid reaction save on Kovacevic after he had turned past Cannavaro. The Juventus goalkeeper also saved the Duljaj follow-up.
Coach Savicevic opted to introduce PSV Eindhoven starlet Mateja Kezman and former Parma man Savo Milosevic to make the most of rapid counter-attacks.
When the Azzurri poured forward on 69 minutes it took a Goran Trobok professional foul to stop Montella's strong progress as he charged forward.
Soon after a good Del Piero volley flew over the bar as the Juventus captain's new position wide on the left caused the defence real problems. Inzaghi was man-marked very well by Vidic and was barely able to get hold of the ball.
There was controversy on 77 minutes when Tommasi won the ball back despite having his shirt pulled and a desperate intervention prevented Inzaghi taking advantage of the move.
Pirlo was also substituted as his role in the Italian international squad remains up in the air. He was far from his inspirational self during his first full senior cap.
Late substitute Massimo Oddo began to swing some interesting crosses into the box at last and although Montella hit the back of the net he was clearly offside.
In the final minute Mihajlovic was booked for wrestling Inzaghi to the ground as he stretched to reach a splendid Montella through ball. The Milan striker had another effort deflected over in the last kick of the game.
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