In the end, it took second-half strikes from Michael Owen and David Beckham to get England's Euro 2004 qualifying campaign off to a winning start in rain-soaked Bratislava.

	England's Michael Owen celebrates his winning goal against Slovakia (ShaunBotterill/GettyImages)

At times victory over Slovakia looked doubtful on a blustery Saturday evening, as a less-than-impressive hit-and-hope first-half England performance saw the home side take a deserved lead through Middlesbrough striker Szilard Nemeth.

It wasn't until the second half that England decided they could play football after all. Beckham grabbed a much-needed leveller when Owen failed to connect with his free-kick, distracting the keeper, and the ball ended up in the net.

The Liverpool striker tried to claim it, of course - any self-respecting forward would - but Owen scored a late winner when he headed home from a deflected Paul Scholes cross in the 82nd minute.

Not the most inspired performance by Sven Goran Eriksson's side - but the job is done, three points are in the bag and next up it's the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) at St Mary's Stadium on Wednesday.

No doubt the England manager will again tell us it will be a 'tough game' but, with all due respect, who are the FYROM?

Technically, England have never faced the Macedonians, because their national team only became autonomous following the country's gaining of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. The new Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia only began to play international football in 1993.

So a young side hasn't had any lengthy period in which to make a mark on world football, and after cramming in 76 games are 90th in FIFA's World Rankings - sandwiched between such footballing giants as Jordon and Kenya.

The FYROM have failed to qualify for any major tournament since their arrival on the international scene - but they have racked up victories over Bulgaria, Finland and the Republic of Ireland and held the likes of Turkey, the USA, Denmark and Croatia to draws.

The country's failure to qualify for World Cup 2002 saw coach Gjore Jovanovski quit his post in December. Current manager Nikola Ilievski took control in February, stating his desire to reduce the average age of the squad.

Ilievski, 48, former coach of FYROM Premier Division side Pobeda Prilep, has had a stuttering start to his tenure and only managed a 1-1 away draw with Liechtenstein in the opening Euro 2004 qualifier.

However, FYROM took an unexpected second minute lead against World Cup semi-finalists Turkey in their next match and should have added to their goal tally before the Turks fought back to win 2-1 in Skopje.

Now FYROM face a tough trip to England - and coach Ilievski is threatening to quit his post, claiming the national side has been neglected by the Macedonian Football Union.

	Georgi Hristov: Main threat (MikeEgerton/Empics)

'Nobody is interested in the team... if things are not changed, I will resign after Wednesday's game against England,' Ilievski said, adding that he had not been paid since he took charge.

On the plus side, his star striker Georgi Hristov should be back to near-full fitness after playing 42 minutes against Turkey, during which he set up Vlatko Grozdanoski for the opening goal.

Hristov is the man FYROM look to for goals and inspiration, and he will be the main threat to the England back four. The NEC Nijmegen player scored 15 goals in his first season in the Dutch Eredivisie after joining on a free from Barnsley.

His career in England was relatively poor and, after Barnsley had shelled out a club record £1.5million to bring him from Partizan Belgrade in 1997, he managed just four goals in 23 matches as the Yorkshire side were relegated from the Premiership.

Hristov's teen sensation strike partner Ilco Naumoski, who plays his club football at Austria's AK Graz, is doubtful, but that is no problem to Ilievski, who is only expected to play one striker anyway.

Delighted to be facing a power like England, Ilievski also plans to have five in the midfield. 'We will play but not defend,' he said.

CSKA Sofia's Artim Sakiri and playmaker Vlatko Grozdanovski will be looking to offer the threat from that five-man midfield. Sakiri, 29, has scored 12 goals in 46 appearances for his country and is the side's regular penalty taker, as well as having the ability to whip in dangerous free-kicks.

He had a shot cleared off the line in the qualifier against Turkey and has scored twice in his last three outings for FYROM, thanks to his energetic runs down the left flank.

Sakiri also played alongside Freddie Ljungberg when Halmstad won the Swedish championship in 1997 and was linked with moves to Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest, but was not able to gain a work permit.

Meanwhile his midfield partner Grozdanovski, of Cementarnica 55, made a scoring return from injury for FYROM on Saturday, netting after only two minutes.

Despite playing only one striker, Ilievski believes his midfielders can do the job. 'The game will be won or lost in midfield. Of course, England away will be very difficult but I think my young side can achieve a positive result,' he said.

Trying to stem the flow of goals at the back will be Spartak Moscow's Igor Mitreski, who will be hoping to put up a better fight against Owen and Emile Heskey than when Spartak went down 5-0 to Liverpool in the Champions League.

	Mitreski: Man at the back (MatthewAshton/Empics)

The defender is highly rated, and Aston Villa boss Graham Taylor is reportedly lining up the 23-year-old as a replacement for want-away Turkey international Alpay Ozalan.

Mitreski has won ten caps for his country after making his debut in the 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic in February last year. His coach at Spartak, Oleg Romantsev, has described him as a 'very clever defender with good heading ability and discipline'.

Dinamo Zagreb's Goce Sedloski, who Ron Atkinson brought to Sheffield Wednesday from Hadjuk Split for £750,000 during the 97/98 season, will probably add his 38 caps of experience to the FYROM defence.

The uncompromising defender was named Croatia's best foreign player last season: there, he has won two championships and played against the likes of Manchester United in the Champions League.

England, however, will be expecting to beat the visitors in Southampton despite Eriksson being forced to change his Owen and Heskey strike force that eventually broke Slovakia's resistance.

Heskey has been ruled out with a groin problem. His withdrawal means that Alan Smith is almost certain to start his second international for England.

The only other changes expected to the side come at the back where Campbell, who has recovered from a bout of gastro-enteritis that kept him out of Saturday's clash with Slovakia, will return at the expense of Jonathan Woodgate. But there is also the possibility of alterations in midfield, where Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Nicky Butt and David Beckham failed to solve the problematic left side.

With injury-prone midfielder Kieron Dyer out with back problems, it could mean a full international debut for Blackburn's David Thompson - who was playing for Coventry City in the Nationwide Division One just two months ago.