And one player in particular is determined to give a good showing against Yugoslavia in his bid to secure a big move.

Captain Zlatco Zahovic - linked with a move to Tottenham - will be looking to continue the fine form which saw him score nine goals in qualifying.

Zahovic is looking for a new club after he was frozen out at Olympiakos. He was fined £40,000 and did not play in the last two months of the Greek season after swearing at his coach.

The player is being linked with moves to Tottenham and Spanish Primera Liga outfit Real Zaragoza.

He said: "I have big problems with Olympiakos - my manager is looking for a club - and I believe Tottenham are one of the teams interested in me."

The free-scoring Zahovic is behind much of Slovenia's success and the nation hope he can put his club troubles behind him in this Group C clash.

He added: "Those who expect miracles might be disappointed - but they can count on us exhausting every atom throughout the 90 minutes."

Midfielder Milienko Acimovic - who plays in Yugoslavia for Crevena Zvezda - agrees the game is special.

He said: "For me this game is the biggest of the tournament. People in Slovenia want a lot for us - they think we must beat Yugoslavia."

But the Slovenians will have to be on their guard against a side who are packed with quality - despite underachieving in European action for years.

Yugoslavia, runners-up twice in the 1960s but gracing the latter stages of the tournament for the first time since 1984, will be desperate to put a disastrous tour of Asia behind them.

Vujadin Boskov's side drew twice with South Korea before losing 4-2 to a South China Select XI.

But Boskov still believes his side can walk away with the trophy. He said: "I am convinced we can be champions - we have much better players than any other team in the finals, our only problem is that they are based with foreign clubs and only get together at occasions such as this."

Assistant coach Zoran Filipovic shares Boskov's optimism: "There is a lot of quality in this squad and the only thing we need is a little bit of luck," he said.

Yugoslavia can certainly point to a wealth of European experience with Sinisa Mihajlovic (Lazio), Predrag Mijatovic (Fiorentina) and Vladimir Jugovic (Inter Milan) forming the backbone of the team.

But they are not underestimating the threat of their first game opponents. Defender Miroslav Djukic, who plays for Champions League finalists Valencia, explained: "We have great respect for Slovenia and we are aware that in these competitions the first match is very often the most difficult to play.

"But we feel obliged to win this one and we will do everything possible to earn the three points.

"We are on peak form - we need to be against Slovenia, because they have some top-class players."

Meanwhile, striker Darko Kovacevic - a misfit at Sheffield Wednesday but inspirational for Juventus this season with 20 goals - has agreed to stay with the Bianconeri until 2006, according to a story in the Belgrade newspaper Zurnal.