Eircom League champions Shelbourne have been handed a Champions League qualifying first round tie in the graveyard of Ireland's Euro 2000 hopes! Shels will play Macedonian outfit FC Sloga Jugomagnat in Skopje on Wednesday, July 12, 2000 at the Chair Stadium with the return a week later at Tolka. The ties could reversed at a later date.

Shelbourne should have nothing to fear from the Macedonian champions. The UEFA capacity for the Chair Stadium is only 4,480 of which a high percentage will be Irish. Jugomagnat's European record isn't pretty reading. They have played ten European ties, four of them in the Champions League, and they have so far only won one. The don't ship a lot of goals but they cannot score to save their lives.

Four of the Jogomagnat team are full internationals with the Macedonian senior team but that is nothing to crow about since Barnsley's Hristov is their star player.

The winner of the tie is up against it in the qualifying second round as they have to play Norway's Rosenborg who are Champions League veterans at this stage.

Bohemians have been handed a plum UEFA Cup draw against Scottish Cup runners-up and Premier Division basement team Aberdeen.

In the same competition, Cork City landed a tough assignment against Swiss team Lausanne Sports, with the away leg first.