Under the stewardship of the volatile Louis van Gaal they'd undergone a massive revamp, and headed to Brazil with one of the most inexperienced squads in the entire tournament.
That's without even mentioning the serious injury to their best midfielder Kevin Strootman, which had forced them into a late tactical switch.
However, their showings to date have dispelled all doubts. The Oranje convincingly won all three of their
games en route to winning Group B, setting up a meeting with Group A's runners-up Mexico in the round of 16.
El Tri have too exceeded expectations, with Miguel Herrera having extracted the best from his players and ensuring they bounced back from the pre-tournament turmoil of several coaching changes and selection controversies. However, they'll have to do something very special to progress into the quarterfinals. Miguel Herrera has named the same lineup in all three of his side's games at the World Cup so far, though he won't be able to do the same against the Netherlands. Midfielder José Juan Vázquez is suspended for this one, with Carlos Peña or Marco Fabián favourites to replace him in the centre. Otherwise, El Tri are expected to be unchanged.
Robin van Persie will return to the Oranje attack after suspension after picking two consecutive yellow cards from the first two games of the group stage and will mount an additional pressure to the Mexicans. On paper the Oranje are favourites to win but I don't expect that to be easy with a strong defensive Mexican team. Mexico has only conceded once since the competition started and I expect them to maximise the use of their solid defence and hold them out till the penalties.
Verdict: DRAW
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