Having won their opening group game, albeit without any real style, the Dutch can afford to give Arjen Robben's foot injury more time to heal. His manager, Bert van Marwijk, said the Bayern Munich playmaker was unlikelyto be risked against a Japan side they should be confident of beating without him. Nevertheless, Van Marwijk is demanding an improvement on the laboured display they delivered against Denmark at Soccer City. "Now the players are more relaxed and less nervous than they were in their opening game, I expect a better performance," he said. 

Japan's wholly unexpected victory over Cameroon means their World Cup has not been the embarrassment that was expected when the team arrived in South Africa having succeeded in scoring more own-goals than than genuine strikes in their four warm-up matches. Their manager, Takeshi Okada, is, however, not planning to celebrate with any expansive football. His midfielder, Yuki Abe commented: "The Dutch think their strength is in attack and so we will need to wind them up and frustrate them." 

Geography means Holland are much more likely to deliver a typical performance than they did against Denmark. Much of the blame for the lifeless opener at Soccer City was put on the breathless altitude of Johannesburg that left both teams drained and exhausted. Here they will be playing at sea level and, much as Japan might try to wear them down, Holland have too much firepower for these tactics to work over 90 minutes. Verdict: Holland to win.