Stuttgart, June 15 :

Ruud van Nistelrooy vs Didier Drogba is a battle between two of the game’s best power forwards. Friday’s World Cup matchup could also decide whether the Netherlands goes into the second round and Ivory Coast heads home.

Manchester United’s Van Nistelrooy had a bad opening game but the Dutch relied instead on the skills of Arjen Robben to get past Serbia-Montenegro 1-0.

Chelsea’s Drogba scored his country’s only goal in the match against Argentina, a 2-1 loss that leaves it facing early elimination in the tournament. Drogba continued to ice his right knee on Wednesday but Ivory Coast was expected to have a fully-fit squad available, a daunting prospect for Dutch coach Marco van Basten who admires the team’s depth. “A lot of them play in the big leagues in Europe, so they are strong,” he said.

Most eyes though will be on the 28-year-old Drogba, who earlier this year won English Premier League title and reached the final of the African Cup. Van Basten has enough confidence in his defence to withstand the Drogba mystique. “He can score goals. But we have to do it with the team and we won’t change everything for one player,” he said.

Also, the coach knows Ivory Coast has a knack of often changing tactical systems and players, making adaptation plans futile. “They change a lot of players and they changed also system, and I think what we can do is just focus on ourselves, give attention to our players and also to our type of play. What they do, we cannot tell,” he said.

Ivory Coast has said it will pay special attention to Van Nistelrooy and Robben, in essence bolstering its defence. Even though Van Nistelrooy did not score against Serbia-Montenegro, the Ivory Coast realises he represents a danger.

“We know his qualities. He can always score if the ball comes near his feet, so we just have to make sure he doesn’t get the ball,” manager Henri Michel said.