Advocaat seeks winning formula

Experiment fails
The Netherlands suffered 1-0 friendly defeats against Belgium last month and the Republic of Ireland on Saturday as they experimented with an unfamiliar 4-4-2 formation.

Advocaat unflustered
"It is clear we will go back to the 4-3-3. I do not think it is a problem, as we have always played like that, and as a coach I also used that system in the past all the time. We will have a meeting with a number of core players to go over the details," Advocaat said after the Dutch squad's arrival in Portugal yesterday afternoon.

Warm welcome
The Dutch party received a warm welcome at the Estádio Municipal de Albufeira in Faro where they conducted a light training session yesterday evening. The stadium, which has been repainted orange, was lit up by fireworks and captain Phillip Cocu received gifts from the town's mayor.

Van Hooijdonk confident
Striker Pierre van Hooijdonk said that confidence remains high in the camp despite the two recent losses. "We have forgotten the past defeats already, and are looking forward. We have not dropped a point in the tournament yet," he said.

Injury doubts
Clarence Seedorf and Arjen Robben remain the only injury doubts for the Netherlands with both nursing hamstring injuries, but Robben expects to be fit in time for the match against Germany.

Robben ready
"Today I trained on my own, but on Wednesday I will join group training again," he said. "I am sure I will be able to play a whole match against Germany, and I hope I can be one of the wing attackers. I have been looking forward to the tournament for months."