After two consecutive tournament disappointments, hopes of getting back on the podium came back at the EuroBasket 2005 were Serbia and Montenegro was a host nation. Also, the legendary Željko Obradović became the national team head coach again. However, they were surprisingly eliminated in the play-off stage by France with a 74-71 loss and finished in 9th place. Obradović stepped down shortly after the tournament and blamed the bad atmosphere among the team star players for yet another failure. The national team participated at the 2006 FIBA World Cup on a wild card due to the results in the past, on the initiative by FIBA prominent administrator Borislav Stanković. But, once again the national team of Serbia and Montenegro came up short, failing to impress finishing in 9th place.