Dutch geared up to face troublesome8217; rivals

That was not the only stroke of luck that went in favour of The Netherlands that day. The Yugoslavs picked up three yellow cards compared with none for the Dutch though Dennis Bergkamp was lucky to escape a red after he trod on Sinisa Mihajlovic directly in front of the linesman.

Certain of his players have referred to Yugoslav 8220;dirty tricks8221; but Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard prefers the word 8220;troublesome8221; to describe Sunday8217;s opponents.

8220;There8217;s the danger of Milosevic and the individual quality of the players. They have shown real fighting qualities, such as coming back from 3-0 down and with a man down against Slovenia. They are dangerous opponents,8221; Rijkaard said.

Savo Milosevic, the tournaments top scorer with four goals, was only on the bench last time.

Yugoslav coach Vujadin Boskov said he believed the Dutch had weakened since.

8220;I think the Dutch national team was better two years ago than it is now,8221; he told reporters. 8220;They had bigger names and better players.

8220;Both teams have great players but I think we have the greater players. The only advantage they have is that they8217;re playing at home.8221;

However, the wily campaigner8217;s words seemed more a psychological ploy than anything else.

The line-ups on Sunday could be similar to those in Toulouse two yaers ago. The Dutch Euro 2000 squad contains all those who played that evening while nine of the 13 the Yugoslavs played will, at least, be present this weekend.

Not only that. Referee Jose Maria Garcia-Aranda of Spain will once more be blowing the whistle and probably handing out cards again on Sunday.

Of the two coaches, veteran Boskov undoubtedly has the greater selection problems.

Goran Djorovic looks certain to miss out because of a leg injury. The defender was substituted after only 12 minutes of Wednesday8217;s amazing 4-3 defeat by Spain.

A question mark also hangs over the fitness of mid-fielder Vladimir Jugovic who came off at half time with a recurrence of a back problem. His chances of playing are rated about 50-50.

A further complication is the suspension to mid-fielder Slavisa Jokanovic and young forward Mateja Kezman, picked up in a group stage littered with yellow and red cards for the Yugoslavs.

Rijkaard, by contrast, has seen the squad8217;s discipline record wiped clean after the group phase with Giovanni van Bronckhorst back after suspension.

On the injury front, mid-fielder Ronald de Boer is the only real concern. De Boer8217;s hip injury kept him out of the match against France and looks like doing so again.

However, goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar appears to have recovered from his thigh strain. The Dutch and Juventus number one seems set to take over from stand-in Sander westerveld.

Rijkaard believes his team, steadily improving, have the required mental toughness. 8220;The team has grown as a unit and we8217;re a strong unit. I have no extra work now,8221; he said.