Barely two months after their loss against Spain in the 2010 World Cup final, Holland returned to competitive action and they clearly struggled to shake off the disappointment of missing out on their first world title.

Nevertheless, after three unimpressive victories, the Dutch were back to their best as they put in breathtaking performances against Sweden and Hungary (twice) to confirm they are a force to be reckoned with in Poland and Ukraine.

A record win over San Marino and routine victories against Finland and Moldova were enough to book their ticket for Euro 2012 before they lost their unbeaten status in Sweden.

The Netherlands didn't make their first appearance until 1976, two years after reaching their first World Cup final. After their debut, where they made it to the semi-finals, Oranje have been regulars though and they haven't missed out since 1984.

Holland's biggest success came in 1988 when they beat England, Republic of Ireland, Germany and Soviet Union to win their only major tournament in history. Perhaps a good omen for the Dutch, like in 1988, Ireland will be present in 2012 for only the second time.

Although they have come close on a number of occasions since, the Netherlands have never been able to repeat their success from 1988, despite making it to the semi-finals three times.

COACH - Bert van Marwijk
Van Marwijk replaced Marco van Basten as national team coach after Euro 2008 and has so far done everything right, learning from his predecessors mistakes. No longer are one or two good performances at club level good enough for a call-up as the Holland boss expects his players to perform consistently at a high level and every player knows exactly what is expected of him.

Whereas in the past, it was only a matter of time before internal conflicts would ruin the harmony within the team, under Van Marwijk there have not been any conflicts. Stars such as Robin van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart and Nigel de Jong have all been warming the bench recently, but never publicly complained, something that is largely down to Van Marwijk's excellent man-management.

His somewhat conservative, yet strict, approach has proven to be the way to go for this Dutch team as Oranje have won 23 out of their 25 competitive games under Van Marwijk, a stunning 92 per cent winning percentage.

CAPTAIN - Mark van Bommel
The influential midfielder didn't make a single appearance for Oranje from July 2006 until August 2008 because of a conflict with then national team coach Van Basten, but made his long awaited comeback the moment the Euro 88 hero left his position.

Van Bommel has since developed into a key player for the Netherlands and has been the engine that keeps the machine running in the past few years.

The AC Milan star formed a superb partnership with Nigel de Jong as Holland's defensive midfielders at the 2010 World Cup and Van Bommel's intelligent movement, aggressive tackling, superb vision and leadership skills make him the first name on Van Marwijk's list ahead of every game.