Slaven Bilic's side trailed for most of the first half after Marko Suler put the home side ahead after just four minutes.

Schalke midfielder Ivan Rakitic tied the scores before the break with a goal after 37 minutes only for Mirnes Sisic to put Slovenia ahead again in the 59th minute.

This time the host's lead lasted only a minute as Dario Srna levelled from the penalty spot on the hour mark before Rakitic scored the winner four minutes later.

Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland were also on the right end of a five-goal thriller as they beat Cyprus 4-1 in Ottmar Hitzfeld's first game in charge.

Valentin Stocker got the German coach's era up and running after eight minutes before Hakin Yakin made it 2-0 20 minutes later.

Constantinos Makrides pulled a goal back 10 minutes before the break before Alain Nef and Johan Vonlanthen completed the rout in the second half.

Two goals from Liverpool's Xabi Alonso and a Xavi strike saw European Champions Spain beat Denmark 3-0 in Vicente del Bosque's first game at the helm, while Leverkusen forward Fanis Gekas scored a brace Greece beat Slovakia 2-0.

mfl

New Portugal boss Carlos Queiroz got off to a good start as a late flurry of goals gave his side a 5-0 win over the Faroe Islands.

It took 23 minutes for his side to break the islanders down as Carlos Martins scored the only goal of the first half.

Simao made it 2-0 three minutes into the second half and the score looked to stay that way until Duda, Bruno Alves and Nani all found the net in the final four minutes of the game.

Another new coach, Bert Van Marwijk, began his reign in charge of Holland with a 1-1 draw as his side were held by Russia. In a replay of the Euro 2008 quarter-final Konstantin Zyryanov pegged the Dutch back with a 78th-minute penalty, cancelling out Robin Van Persie's 23rd-minute opener.

Marcello Lippi was also restricted to a draw in his first match since returning to the Italy helm as the Azzurri recovered from two goals down against Austria.

Emanuel Pogatetz put the hosts in the lead against the run of play in the 14th minute before Marc Janko added a second in the 39th as Karel Bruckner's reign as Austria coach got off to a dream start.

Martin Stranzl fired the ball against Alberto Gilardino and into the Austria net just seconds before half-time before debutant goalkeeper Ramadan Oczan gave Italy another gift with an own goal to level the scores midway through the second half.

Italy'sEuro 2008 rivals France fared better as they overcame Sweden 3-2. Henrik Larsson put the Swedes ahead early on before a Karim Benzema strike after 19 minutes sent the sides in level at the break.

Benzema's Lyon team-mates took over in the second half as Sidney Govou scored an impressive brace before Kim Kallstrom pulled one back for Sweden from the penalty spot six minutes from time.

Germany beat Belgium 2-0 in their first outing since losing to Spain in the European Championships final.

Bastian Schweinsteiger opened the scoring from the spot after 59 minutes, before 19-year-old Marko Marin scored his first goal fro Germany with 13 minutes left.

Substitute Joe Cole grabbed a last-minute equaliser as England came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Czech Republic.

Milan Baros opened the scoring after 22 minutes before Wes Brown levelled just before half-time, while Marek Jankulovski scored the Czech's second from a free-kick three minutes into the second half.

The Republic of Ireland were held to a 1-1 draw in their game against Norway. New Liverpool signing Robbie Keane and 22-year-old defender Tore Reginiussen got the goals.

In the evening's other games Romania overcame Latvia 1-0 thanks to a goal from Catania forward Nicolae Dica, want-away Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov scored twice as Bulgaria beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1 and Hamit Altintop scored the only goal in Turkey's 1-0 win over Chile.

Albania beat Liechtenstein 2-0, Scotland and Northern Ireland played out a 0-0 draw, Georgia snatched a last minute winner in a 2-1 victory over Wales, Iceland drew 1-1 with Azerbaijan and Luxembourg were beaten 4-1 by FYR Macedonia.

Earlier in the evening Serhiy Kravchenko grabbed the only goal for Ukraine in a 1-0 win over fellow Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland, Estonia came from behind to beat Malta 2-1 and Finland upset Israel 2-0.

Lithuania saw off Moldova 3-0, Belarus drew 0-0 against Argentina and Hungary snatched a late equaliser from the penalty spot to draw 3-3 with Montenegro.