The Netherlands played their final World Cup warm up match on Wednesday evening and comfortably saw off Wales with a 2-0 victory.
However, it was not all smooth sailing for Louis van Gaal’s side as star man Robin van Persie was forced off at half time, increasing speculation that he may miss Group B’s opening match with the current World and European champions Spain on Friday June 13.
The Dutch support will be even more worried about the fitness of van Persie after Hamburg attacking midfielder Rafael van der Vaart was ruled out of the tournament last week due to a calf injury.
Things got off to a slow start in the warm up matches for Netherlands as they kicked off with a 1-1 draw against Ecuador.
The result would have been a lot worse had it not been for the sheer brilliance of the Manchester United striker, who scored a spectacular volley to level in the 37th minute, something which has become somewhat of a trademark of his in recent years.
The next two games went a little better for Oranje, brushing aside both Ghana and Wales.
Against Ghana, it was once again van Persie who was their saviour as he struck just moments into the match to give his side a 1-0 victory.
The match against Wales, although ending in a 2-0 win, will raise some issues in for van Gaal to face.
Chris Coleman was without Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale yet his side still managed to frustrate the Dutch for large portions of the game.
The significance of van Persie to the team was again highlighted in the way they took the lead.
The Manchester United striker’s shot was parried by Wayne Hennessey only to be tapped home by Arjen Robben.
The Dutch’s second came from Dynamo Kiev winger Jeremain Lens in the 76th after being set up by Robben.
The fitness of van Persie will go a long way in determining how far the Netherlands can go in this competition, and they will certainly need him firing if they are to finish ahead of the attacking force of Chile in Group B.
The three warm up games suggested that Schalke striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar is very much out of favour in the eyes of van Gaal.
In the three matches combined, Huntelaar’s total time on the field totalled less than 30 minutes, creating the impression he will very much be a last resort option.
Follow Conor Clancy on Twitter: @concalcio
