RVP: Dutch must now live up to expectations

Robin van Persie admits Holland face a challenge of expectation as they prepare to take on Australia.

Louis van Gaal’s side routed the defending champions Spain in their World Cup opener, giving full value for a 5-1 victory that might have easily been embellished further as the Dutch tore their opponents apart.

Van Persie and Arjen Robben each scored twice, turning in irresistible attacking performances that defied their status as underdogs going into the match.

That is a tag they can forget about for the remainder of the tournament,.

They will now be expected to brush aside Australia at Porto Alegre tonight (5pm) and van Persie accepts that his side must now deal with being among the favourites.

“Everybody is euphoric in the Netherlands. We are dealing with people’s expectations which had been low compared to other years,” he said.

“After such a performance, the dynamics have changed. However, as a country, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. We have to stay realistic.”

The Manchester United striker, whose athletic header to make it 1-1 against Spain is destined to go down as a defining moment of the World Cup, stressed the need for cool heads to counteract the inevitable hype.

“This is my fifth [major] tournament and I know how these things work: the euphoria vanishes just as quickly as it appears. So we have to make sure that we hold on to it.”

The Socceroos lost their opener 3-1 to a vibrant Chile and need a result to stay alive in the competition. It is a big ask for them to tame L’Oranje but veteran midfielder Mark Bresciano expects Australia to have learned lessons from their first match in Brazil.

“Against Chile, we gave it away in the first 20 minutes. Now we have all experienced how it is here and against the Dutch, we will just stand up from the first minute,” said Bresciano.

“We can hope they have a bad day and that we can benefit. We must be ready to take any small chance.”

For his part, Dutch coach Louis van Gaal knows the great work done in the demolition of Spain will be undone if they fail to qualify this evening.

“If we do not win our next game against Australia we have made no progress,” warned van Gaal, who takes over at Manchester United after the World Cup.