Robben Island trip fires up Dutch

Netherlands coach Bert Van Marwijk took his players on a tour of Robben Island, Nelson Mandela’s former prison home, on Wednesday on the eve of their World Cup clash against Cameroon.

The Dutch have already qualified for the round of 16 after beating Denmark 2-0 and Japan 1-0, but Van Marwijk wants them to keep their focus and take all three points on Thursday.

They need just one point to top Group E, which will mean they face the second team in Group F for a berth in the quarter-finals, which could be either Paraguay, Italy, New Zealand or Slovakia.

With the sun out in Cape Town, he decided a trip to one of the most notorious penal colonies of the last century was in order.

“When you go through the gate and you see where all the prisoners were, it was incredible,” he said of a prison that housed both Mandela and current South African leader Jacob Zuma, jailed by the old apartheid government.

“It was great idea and good for the players to see something like that.”

With the trip over, the team tested conditions at Green Point Stadium for their encounter with Cameroon, who have already been eliminated and need to lift themselves one last time.

Van Marwijk said he considered it an important game despite little being at stake.

“It is a very important match. We are through to the next round but in tournament like this you should not let your guard down,” he said.

“We must improve individually and as a team. We are very serious about the match.”

Van Marwijk has three players on yellow cards — Robin Van Persie, Nigel De Jong and Gregory Van Der Wiel — and may leave them out to protect them for the round of 16 clash.

His other concern is star winger Arjen Robben, who came through a full training session on Wednesday but is yet to be given the all-clear from a thigh injury.

The 26-year-old Bayern Munich player has played no role in The Netherlands opening two games after suffering the injury in a warm-up victory over Hungary.

“With Arjen, I wanted to see him in training today. If everything looks well then he will be in for selection for the match,” said the coach.

“I will just wait until the last moment. Tomorrow I will decide whether or not he can be selected.

“I have to give my line-up some more thought, taking into account the yellow cards we have,” he added.

“I want to sleep on it.”