After that, Petković was called to FR Yugoslavia first matches after its banning, in December 1994, although staying in the bench – curiously, the first match of Yugoslav return was against Brazil. In a South American tour, the second match would be against Argentina. In that day, Petković started disagreements with the then coach Slobodan Santrač. The player was praised in the training sessions and, under Santrač's orders, warmed up from the 30th minute to the 80th one and then decided to seat, as thinking he would not play anymore. Santrač was disgusted and called another reserve to enter; it was Darko Kovačević, who made his senior debut as replacing Predrag Mijatović. After two another matches without being used, Petković then earned his first cap on 31 March 1995, against Uruguay, in Belgrade. He was included in the starting players as of the next Yugoslav match, against Russia. In his second cap, he scored a goal just one minute after a Valery Karpin one, but Yugoslavia still lost by 2–1. Petković also played the three later matches of Yugoslavia in 1995. All of them were winnings in away fields.