Netherlands coach Bert Van Marwijk says his in-form team has room to improve when they meet a Cameroon side playing to salvage their pride on Thursday.
The fortunes of the two World Cup Group E sides could not be more stark — the Dutch are already qualified for the round of 16 while the Africans have been knocked out.
The Netherlands have been convincing in South Africa, beating Denmark 2-0 and Japan 1-0 and they are keen to make it three-out-of-three.
They need to collect at least a point to top the group. If they do, they will face the second team in Group F for a berth in the quarter-finals, which could be either Paraguay, Italy, New Zealand or Slovakia.
Despite being safely into the knockout round, Ven Marwijk is not planning to take Cameroon lightly.
“Since we already have a place in the next phase, of course, you now look out for that,” he said.
“Nevertheless, I do take the match against Cameroon very seriously because it is in that match that the team has to show that they have learned. We want to improve in every match.”
The coach is hoping to see the influential Arjen Robben back in action, although his appearance on Thursday is still not certain.
“We will see how he evolves before taking a decision over whether he plays or not.” he said.
Robben, the Bundesliga player of the season and instrumental in Bayern Munich reaching the Champions League final, has played no role so far after suffering a hamstring injury in a warm-up victory over Hungary.
But he feels he is ready to make his bow.
“These last few days I have trained normally without any problems. Now I feel like I need to play a game to rediscover my rhythm,” he said on Monday.
The only other player causing some concern is Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who is suffering from a painful neck.
Cameroon have confidence issues to deal with, having become the first team eliminated from the tournament after losing 2-1 to Denmark and 1-0 to Japan.
Superstar striker Samuel Eto’o, the team’s captain and a three-time African player of the year, said they must lift their spirits and play for pride.
“I want to finish with dignity in the last game,” Eto’o said. “That is very important.
“We need to go out with some pride, above all for the people back home, though it won’t be easy.”
The match could be the last in charge for coach Paul Le Guen, with reports in Australia saying he is favourite to take over the Socceroos job when Pim Verbeek quits after the tournament.
The Frenchman said he felt the team had played well, but had been unlucky.
“I’ve been happy even though things have been difficult, I recognise that we’ve had a failure here at the World Cup but I’ve sought to do my best for the team,” he said.
“I think the team have shown a great deal of spirit but, as we are eliminated, I’m not particularly consoled in knowing that.” — AFP