The Dutch players could be forgiven for not being totally focused on their Danish opponents when they open their Euro 2012 campaign in Kharkiv, today.
For having had their black players subjected to racist chanting at a training session at their Polish base, they will be fearful that similar episodes will occur today, amid publicly aired fears of far-right gangs at Ukrainian grounds.
Should such an incident arise Dutch captain Mark van Bommel has made it clear that they will not stand for it.
“During the tournament, if any one of us is confronted with such a thing, we’ll immediately go to the referee to ask him to intervene,” said the veteran midfielder.
Referees have already been put on notice by UEFA that they can stop a match should such incidents arise, so it will only add to the tension at the match.
Should things go smoothly, though, the Dutch will hope for a repeat of their progress to the 2010 World Cup final which started with a win over Denmark.
Bert van Marwijk’s men prevailed 2-0 against Denmark in Johannesburg in June 2010, the first step on a path that eventually led to an extra-time defeat at the hands of Spain in the final a month later.
The team that Van Marwijk fields at the Metalist Stadium today is likely to closely resemble that which last faced the Danes two years ago and the objective remains the same – to end a trophy drought that now stretches to 24 years.
Arsenal’s Robin van Persie, coming off the finest season of his career, scored twice in the 6-0 demolition of Northern Ireland in their last warm-up match and is set to spearhead a 4-2-3-1 formation against Denmark.
Morten Olsen’s Denmark lost 3-1 to Brazil in their first warm-up game before completing their preparations with a 2-0 win over Australia, albeit one in which striker Nicklas Bendtner claimed they played “too slowly and too horizontally”.
Olsen has decided to install Evian’s Stephan Andersen as his first-choice goalkeeper, rather than Anders Lindegaard, after Thomas Sorensen was ruled out with a back injury sustained against Brazil.