Pushed to the brink

After the Denmark shock, the Dutch face an unenviable task against tournament favourites Germany.

Holland take on Germany in tomorrow's Group B key clash with the World Cup finalists knowing another defeat could threaten an early exit from Euro 2012 following their shock loss to Denmark.

In one of the key matches of the group stages, the Dutch have to pick themselves up from Saturday's 1-0 defeat to the Danes as Michael Krohn-Dehli's first-half strike decided a match the Dutch had largely dominated.

Bert van Marwijk’s team now have to beat both Germany at Kharkiv’s Metalist Stadium, then Portugal on Sunday to be sure of qualifying from the pool, which has been dubbed 'The Group of Death'.

“We have to win (the remaining two games). We have no other choice," said Dutch captain Mark van Bommel.

After wasting a string of chances against Denmark, the mis-firing Dutch have vowed to put that right in what promises to be a heated contest with daytime temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius (91 Fahrenheit) forecast in Kharkiv.

However, all does not appear to be well in the Dutch camp with reports that several players including last season's Bundesliga leading scorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart are in dispute with coach Bert van Marwijk. Match box

Huntelaar has already expressed his anger at Robin van Persie being selected ahead of him for the Denmark match and pointedly he was the only player who did not face the domestic press on Monday.

However, Inter Milan playmaker Wesley Sneijder said that there was nothing to be read into the reports of disunity.

“It is not obligatory that we should all be friends in order to play together and win games.

“And I don't have the impression that there are clans, or small cliques that are opposing each other.

“If that was the case I would react, because I am here to become champion of Europe."

While the Dutch will be fighting for survival, Germany arrive in Ukraine knowing another win will put them in the quarter-finals following Saturday's 1-0 victory over Portugal.

‘Start scoring’
Whether it's Robin van Persie or Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, one of the Dutch star strikers had better start scoring if the Netherlands is to live up to its billing as a European Championship favorite.

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk might decide to go with Huntelaar against Germany. Huntelaar topped the Bundesliga scoring charts with 29 goals for Schalke last season. Van Persie led the Premier League with 30 goals for Arsenal.

“You simply have to beat Germany, that is clear,” Van Marwijk said.

“And I refuse to accept defeat at this stage. We showed we can play well. We can create a lot of chances. We also showed that. And in the past we have proven that we can beat Germany, so why not now?”