LEIPZIG, Germany, June 10 (UPI) -- The Netherlands, the runner-up in 1974 and 1978, returns to World Cup play and meets a Serbia-Montenegro team playing its last event together.
By the time these two teams play their first game, Sunday in Leipzig, the other Group C teams will have a decision on the board as Argentina meets Ivory Coast on Saturday in Hamburg.
The Netherlands will be looking to replicate the success of 1998, when after not qualifying for the 1994 tournament, the Dutch battled to a fourth-place finish. But then came 2002 and another missed qualification, leaving the 2006 team again trying to save The Netherlands' soccer name.
The pair of Rafael van der Vaart and Ruud van Nistelrooy fuel a strong offense and the defense gave up just three goals in qualifying. This appears to be a team on a mission.
Serbia and Montenegro makes for an interesting quandary. The team used to be known as Yugoslavia, but that federation has broken up. And now the Montenegrins have voted to leave Serbia to fend for itself. This will be the last time the team plays as one country.
It's not a bad team, either, going unbeaten in a qualifying group that included Spain. And it's a team that lives on defense, meaning it rarely finds itself out of a contest.
If the players can come together, even as the country comes apart, surprises could happen in the favor of Serbia and Montenegro.
