"The players of the national team gathered for preparatory training yesterday under one flag, and woke up this morning without a state," said chairman of Serbia and Montenegro's football federation Tomislav Karadzic.

Montenegro voted for independence from the Serbia and Montenegro Federation in a referendum held last week, with results confirming the split on Monday.

Karadzic, who spoke to reporters from the national squad training camp in Palic, in the north, said the team "has found itself in a strange situation by a stroke of fate.

"But such an outcome will not disturb our preparations for Germany," he insisted.

Serbia and Montenegro's squad will face former champions Argentina, their previous nemesis Netherlands, and Cote d'Ivoire, finalists in this year's African Nations Cup, in Group C.

Karadzic said Serbia and Montenegro would "take their own paths from now on." He added: "I hope the links will not break and that we will have good relations and cooperation."

Earlier Montenegro's football union chairman Dejan Savicevic said the coastal republic would apply for membership in the international soccer organisations UEFA and FIFA.