Pair close to qualification

The Netherlands head into Saturday's game against Denmark needing only a draw to definitely reach the quarter-finals as Group A runners-up, while their opponents must win to earn that position at the expense of the Oranje. However, if there is a draw, Denmark would definitely finish as one of the two best third-placed teams and also go through

• The runners-up in Group A will play the Group B runners-up on 3 September at the Tampere Stadium. The third-placed team, if they are one of the two best, face the Group C winners the following night at the Helsinki Football Stadium.

• The Netherlands made a fine start to the tournament, beating Ukraine 2-0 with goals from Kirsten van de Ven and Karin Stevens inside the first nine minutes of their first ever appearance at a UEFA European Women's Championship.

• They were brought down to earth by Finland on Matchday 2, though, losing 2-1 but keeping the margin of defeat narrow enough to preserve their goal difference advantage over Denmark and second place in the group. Van de Ven scored their spectacular first-half equaliser after picking up the ball inside her own half, but Laura Österberg Kalmari's second goal of the game for Finland sealed it in the 69th minute.

• Denmark have done things the other way around, opening with a 1-0 defeat by the Finland before beating Ukraine 2-1.

• Camilla Sand Andersen put Denmark ahead in the 49th minute against Ukraine, but Daryna Apanaschenko's equaliser looked to have earned her side a point until Maiken Pape struck Denmark's winner three minutes from time.

• These teams have met 16 times, Denmark recording eleven wins to the Netherlands' one with four draws.

• Denmark won their first friendly encounter 1-0 on 15 October 1977. The Netherlands recorded their sole victory in their first competitive encounter, winning a UEFA Competition for National Representative Women Teams qualifying game 2-1 in Groningen in October 1982.

• Overall, though Denmark have won four of their six competitive encounters with one draw. That came in the two-legged 1991 UEFA European Women's Championship quarter-finals, when the Netherlands played out a goalless game in Denmark on 25 November 1990 before losing 1-0 at home on 9 December.

• The teams were matched in UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2005™ qualifying and Denmark prevailed 3-0 in Odense on 18 October 2003 and 5-1 away in Katwijk on 29 September 2004 – having already earned a place in England before that second fixture – to leave the Netherlands in fourth in Group 2.

• In the Odense encounter, the score was 0-0 with 20 minutes left before Janni Lund Johansen scored twice in four minutes and Julie Rydahl Bukh added a third.

• The teams were:
Denmark: Tine Cederkvist, Bettina Falk, Katrine Pedersen, Gitte Andersen, Cathrine Paaske Sørensen, Louise Hansen (Stine Kjær Jensen), Julie Rydahl Bukh, May Christensen, Janni Lund Johansen, Anne Dot Eggers Nielsen, Lene Jensen.
Netherlands: Marleen Wissink, Ilse Witteman, Daphne Koster, Marloes de Boer (Manoe Meulen), Cindy Burger, Annemiek Griffioen, Esther Scheenaard, Marieke Ran, Janna Torny, Sandra Muller, Dyanne Bito (Ellen van Bergen).

• In the game in Katwijk, Merete Petersen gave Denmark a 15th-minute lead and although Marieke Ran equalised, Lene Jensen struck on the stroke of half-time and again four minutes into the second period. Stine Kjær Jensen added further goals on 56 and 69 minutes.

• The teams were:
Netherlands: Martine van Pelt, Esther Scheenaard, Manoe Meulen (Marloes de Boer), Annemiek Griffioen, Petra Hogewoning, Gilanne Louwaars, Janna Torny (Monique van Veen), Daphne Koster, Sandra Muller, Marieke Ran (Sylvia Smit), Manon Melis.
Denmark: Tine Cederkvist, Janne Madsen (Helle Nielsen), Katrine Pedersen, Gitte Andersen, Dorte Dalum Jensen, Louise Hansen (Ditte Larsen), Bettina Falk, Lene Jensen, Anne Dot Eggers Nielsen, Merete Pedersen (Stine Kjær Jensen), Mette Bjerg.

• Their most recent meeting was in the Peace Queens Cup in Seoul on 31 October 2006 with Denmark winning 1-0 through an 81st-minute Janne Madsen goal to stretch their unbeaten record against the Netherlands to 13 games.

• In this competition, the Netherlands finished bottom of their qualifying groups in 1997 and 2001 and needed to beat the Czech Republic and Hungary respectively in play-offs to remain in the top tier of the two-divisional system then in operation. In 2005 they only just pipped Belgium to finish fourth in a five-team group but the turning point was a 1-0 win in France at the start of 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying. They went on to run Les Bleues and England close despite ending third in the pool, boosting their coefficient in the process.

• Denmark have qualified for four out of five FIFA Women's World Cups, reaching the quarter-finals in 1991 and 1995 but falling in the 1999 and 2007 group stages.