World Cup 2006 News

No injury problems for van Basten ahead of Dutch's Group C opener

Jun 10, 2006, 17:46 GMT

Leipzig - Veteran Phillip Cocu and rising stars Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Snejder were declared fit on Saturday by Dutch coach Marco van Basten ahead of the Netherlands's opening match against Serbia and Montenegro. All three midfielders have fully recovered from their respective injuries and were able to take part in the team's final training session in Leipzig's Central Stadium 24 hours ahead of Sunday's game. While Cocu was virtually certain of a place on the left, van Basten still has to decide whether to field van der Vaart or Snejder in the centre of midfield. Most pundits expected the Hamburg SV talent to grab the available place, with Snejder being relegated to the bench. There are, however, few doubts concerning the Dutch's attacking trio, which should see Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie flank Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. Asked to comment about the strength of Sunday's opponent, van Basten said he had been particularly impressed by Serbia and Montenegro's solidity in defence. 'They only conceded one goal in all 12 of their qualifying games. They have a very strong defence and it's going to be tough to score against them. They deserve a lot of respect,' he said. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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World Cup 2006 News

No injury problems for van Basten ahead of Dutch's Group C opener

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