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Talents ready for tussle

Marek Hamsik vs. Nigel de Jong: Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss left Jan Kozak out of his starting eleven against Italy and replaced him with the more defensively minded Juraj Kucka. This meant that talented Napoli playmaker Marek Hamsik moved upfield to a position just behind striker Robert Vittek, giving him greater freedom to express himself and take defenders on.

Weiss will mostly persist with this system against Netherlands, and this will mean that Hamsik will come up against Nigel de Jong, a mobile defensive midfielder adept at reading the game and tracking players between the lines.

The Manchester City midfielder is prone to over-impetuous tackles, however, and this could work against him, especially since Alberto Undiano, who showed nine yellow cards and sent off Miroslav Klose in the Germany-Serbia game, will take charge of this fixture.

Arjen Robben vs. Radoslav Zabavnik: Arjen Robben will surely play some part in this game, whether from the start or coming off the bench. While the Bayern winger is very dangerous, there is a degree of predictability to how he plays, cutting in from the right flank at every opportunity to try and create room for a left-footed strike from distance. This was exposed by Inter Milan in the Champions League final, especially in the second half when Javier Zanetti moved from midfield to left back and snuffed out Robben's threat expertly.

Like Zanetti, Radoslav Zabavnik is a versatile right-footed player who can slot comfortably into either fullback position or midfield. Slovakia fans will hope that Zabavnik shares some of Zanetti's defensive nous as well.

Robert Vittek vs. Joris Mathijsen and John Heitinga: After his brace against Italy, no team will take Robert Vittek lightly. His finishing apart, what caught the eye was his hold-up play and tireless movement off the ball which constantly created space for others. It's imperative that the two Dutch centre backs aren't tempted too wide or too far off their line in tracking Vittek's runs. They must also beware giving away unnecessary fouls in attempting to nick the ball off him when he holds up the ball.

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