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Van Basten has no regrets over Australia warm-up
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-06 09:03

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, June 4  - Dutch coach Marco van Basten had no regrets about arranging a World Cup warm-up with Australia, despite having three players injured in the 1-1 draw on Sunday.

Van Basten, who already has fitness doubts over influential playmaker Rafael van der Vaart, watched midfield pair Philip Cocu (thigh) and Wesley Sneijder (ankle) and defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst (ankle) limp off against Australia.

"I don't regret the match because it is good to play physical football," van Basten told a news conference.

"Generally we played well and created a lot of chances but a match like this gets difficult when you fail to convert them."

Netherlands opened the scoring through Ruud van Nistelrooy after nine minutes before Tim Cahill equalised in the second half.

Australia had Luke Wilkshire sent off for a 61st-minute challenge on van Bronckhorst, his second yellow card.

CLEAR CUT

Before Sunday's match, van Basten seemed certain to take van der Vaart to the World Cup but the issue does not appear so clear cut now.

"With van der Vaart we will wait until Wednesday to make a decision," said the Dutch coach. "We also have to see how Sneijder's injury develops in the coming days."

Van Basten said he was likely to pick a replacement from the under-21 squad if any one of his first choice players are ruled out of the finals in Germany.

Compatriot Guus Hiddink, preparing for his third consecutive World Cup finals, was pleased with the performance of his Australian side.

"We worked really hard to frustrate the Dutch and that is something we paid attention to over the last six months," said Hiddink.

"It was good to see how well we anticipated against a technically well-equipped team. That proves the improvement of our tactical discipline."

Hiddink also said striker Harry Kewell had no reaction to his groin injury in training and would play in Wednesday's warm-up against Liechtenstein.

Netherlands start their World Cup campaign against Serbia and Montenegro in Leipzig next Sunday.

Australia's opening game is against Japan in Kaiserslautern on June 12.