Racism fears dog Dutch for Euro opener with Danes

For having had their black players subjected to racist chanting at a training session at their Polish base, they will be fearful that similar episodes will occur, amid publicly aired fears of far-right gangs at Ukrainian grounds.

Should such an incident arise Dutch captain Mark van Bommel has made it clear that they will not stand for it.

"During the tournament, if any one of us is confronted with such a thing, we'll immediately go to the referee to ask him to intervene," said the veteran AC Milan midfielder.

Referees have already been put on notice by UEFA president Michel Platini that they can stop a match should such incidents arise, so it will only add to the tension at the match.

Should things go smoothly, though, the Dutch will hope for a repeat of their progress to the 2010 World Cup final which started with a win over Denmark.

Bert van Marwijk's men prevailed 2-0 against Denmark in Johannesburg in June 2010, the first step on a path that eventually led to an extra-time defeat at the hands of Spain in the final a month later.

The team that van Marwijk fields at Metalist Stadium on Saturday is likely to closely resemble that which last faced the Danes two years ago and the objective remains the same -- to end a trophy drought that now stretches to 24 years.

"It's a big tournament and the first game for me is the most important game of the last six months," said the Netherlands coach.

"When the draw was made I said it was the most important and it still is."

Arsenal's Robin van Persie, coming off the finest season of his career, scored twice in the 6-0 demolition of Northern Ireland in their last warm-up match and is set to spearhead van Marwijk's 4-2-3-1 formation against Denmark.

It means a place on the bench for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, despite the fact he scored 12 goals to van Persie's six in qualifying and netted 29 times for Schalke to finish as the top scorer in the Bundesliga.

The 28-year-old has admitted to feeling "disappointed and angry" at his likely omission, raising the spectre of the rifts that have undermined Dutch performances at previous tournaments, but Wesley Sneijder insists there is harmony in the squad.

"We are fine," the Inter Milan playmaker told reporters.

"There are no fights. We've been together in this team for a long time so there are no problems."

Morten Olsen's Denmark lost 3-1 to Brazil in their first warm-up game before completing their preparations with a 2-0 win over Australia, albeit one in which striker Nicklas Bendtner claimed they played "too slowly and too horizontally".

Olsen has decided to install Evian's Stephan Andersen as his first-choice goalkeeper, rather than Anders Lindegaard of Manchester United, after Thomas Sorensen was ruled out with a back injury sustained against Brazil.

"The Netherlands have a team similar to the one we saw in South Africa," says Olsen. "They have so many talented players, but the team ethic is what makes them great.

"They might just be one of the favourites for the entire tournament, so of course they are favourites against us as well. Not to say that we will be giving up in advance -- we will take every chance we get."

Denmark fell at the group phase in South Africa but impressed in qualifying, topping their group above Portugal after beating Cristiano Ronaldo and co 2-1 in Copenhagen in their final match.