The Netherlands come face to face with their Euro 2004 nemesis when they take on Portugal in the World Cup second round today.

The Dutch have not lost a competitive match since a 2-1 defeat to the hosts of the European Championship two years ago.

Portugal, led by Brazilian World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, have won all three group games as they reached the World Cup second round for the first time since 1966. They also have an impressive record against the Dutch, losing only once in their previous nine meetings.

Portugal's midfielder Maniche shrugged off past performances, arguing: "The statistics tell you nothing. It will be good if we can add to these victories against the Dutch but this is a totally different game."

Neither team has arguably been tested to the full in the tournament so far.

Portugal faced Iran and debutants Angola in Group D, needing only to turn up against Mexico to book their spot in the last 16. The toughest challenge for the Dutch was against Argentina in their final Group C game, but by then they too were already in the second round.

Portugal will be back to their usual line-up, bringing back big names such as Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo and Pauleta after Scolari decided to leave them out against Mexico.

The Dutch have a great World Cup tradition, having reached the final in 1974 and 1978. But some are questioning whether coach Marco van Basten's young team are good enough to match those feats. Van Basten has had his team practising penalties, hoping to end a series of shoot-out defeats in major tournaments.

Probable teams

Netherlands (4-3-3): 1-Van der Sar; 3-Boulahrouz, 13-Ooijer, 4-Mathijsen, 5-Van Bronckhorst; 18-Van Bommel, 20-Sneijder, 8-Cocu; 17-Van Persie, 7-Kuijt, 11-Robben.

Portugal (4-2-3-1): 1-Ricardo; 13-Miguel, 16-Carvalho, 5-Meira, 14-Valente; 20-Deco, 6-Costinha, 18-Maniche, 7-Figo, 17-Ronaldo; 9-Pauleta.

Referee: Valentin Ivanov (Russia).