The greatest difficulty for Dutch coach Louis van Gaal as he prepares for tonight's World Cup Group Two qualifier against Cyprus could be getting his players to focus on the match.
His preparations have been far from perfect. Barcelona players were stuck in Spain for a domestic match, and could not arrive until Monday, while Benfica's Pierre van Hooijdonk missed his flight and also arrived late for training.
Training and news conferences have been hijacked by questions about Edgar Davids failure of a doping test and Ruud van Nistelrooy's move to Manchester United.
Victory is essential for the Dutch. Ireland and Portugal both have 11 points from five matches, the Netherlands are third with eight from five and Cyprus fourth with seven.
While the points are vital, a win would also go some way to boosting confidence and morale.
Davids, defenders Jaap Stam and Michael Reiziger are suspended, while Paul Bosvelt, a midfielder who often steps in for Reiziger at right back, is injured, creating serious headaches for Van Gaal in defence.
The coach, who said his side only had themselves to blame after throwing away a two-goal lead to draw with Portugal last month, has brought in Van Nistelrooy for his first international since February last year.
The PSV Eindhoven striker, who completed his £19 million move to Manchester United on Monday, joins Mario Melchiot of Chelsea and Inter Milan's Clarence Seedorf, who are also recalled to the squad.
Cyprus coach Stavros Papadopoulos has also brought in new faces to his squad. Defender Kyriakos Mitsingas and Constantinos Charalambidis are included in the squad for the first time. Regular goalkeeper Nicos Panayiotou, however, has been dropped after he let in two goals in three minutes in Cyprus' World Cup qualifier against Estonia.
Probable Teams
NETHERLANDS: Van der Sar; Melchiot, Frank de Boer, Bouma, Cocu; Seedorf, Van Bommel; Zenden, Overmars, Van Hooijdonk, Kluivert.
CYPRUS: Constantinou; Charalambous, Germanou, Kounnafis, Christodoulou, Melanarkitis, Spolijaric; Engomitis; Agathocleous, Constantinou, Okkas.
Referee: Yuri Baskakov (Russia)
