They may be two of the hottest strikers in world football but Socceroo defender Jason Davidson says Holland’s dynamic duo van Persie and Robben ‘have two arms and two legs’ just like any other player.
Speaking ahead of the two teams’ second group stage clash in Porto Alegre this Wednesday (Thursday 2am AEST), Dutch-based Davidson has vowed not to be in awe of his superstar opponents at the Estadio Beira-Rio.
“You just have to concentrate as a team, and worry about ourselves and make sure we get ourselves correct,” he told reporters.
“Obviously we’re playing against world class players. Chile had world-class players but we matched it with them.
“At the end of the day, everybody’s got two arms and two legs and the most important thing is you work hard collectively as a team. And punish them when we get our chances.”
The Socceroos have gained confidence from the fact the Dutch have never beaten the Australians at a competitive level game.
But if the Socceroos start like they did against Chile, that record could easily change, stressed Davidson.
“I’m excited. It’s a big challenge for me. Hopefully we can keep that record against Holland.
“We have to make sure from kick-off that we prepare and don’t give them any chances early,” said the Heracles defender.
“Against Chile we didn’t have enough time to recover so we have to make sure we don’t repeat that same mistake.
“It was a big stage and we showed too much respect to Chile, they were flying, moving everywhere.
“They punished us but they used a lot of energy in the first 20 minutes, as the game went by we started to come back into the game.”
An Algerian referee has been named for the clash, with his lack of experience called into question by some Dutch journalists.
Mark Bresciano responded by saying the result will be defined by how Australia plays and not by a referee.
The Socceroos had a final training session in Vitoria on Monday before boarding a flight to Porto Alegre later in the afternoon.
The media was turned away after 20 minutes as the team went through tactical planning.
Green and Gold Army fans arrived from Rio to support the players ahead of the Dutch clash and were given a tour of the Socceroos’ base in Vitoria.
“Thank you very much to the fans. It’s a good inspiration for the players to see some Aussie fans out there," said Davidson.
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