Whilst the topics of who should partner Wayne Rooney up front for England, will France and Portugal make it out of their groups and will Argentina do well under the guidance of Diego Maradona are probably the most talked about heading into the World Cup there is a nation that is happy to not be in the spotlight - Holland.
The oranje have never been world champions though they were the runners-up in consecutive World Cups - 1974 and 1978 - and do have a European Championship victory to their name from 1988.
Quite frankly, Holland should progress from the group stages in South Africa with relative ease after being drawn with Cameroon, Denmark and Japan; three nations who rank significantly lower in the FIFA rankings than Holland.
Denmark are well-organised but lack a potent threat going forward (who wouldn't when Nicklas Bendtner is your main striker), Japan have been consistenly poor in the build-up to the tournament and Cameroon, apart from Samuel Eto'o, have no real goalscoring threat.
Holland have an enviable array of attacking options; Arjen Robben, Rafael Van Der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder are all players who can pick the metaphorical lock of most world defences whilst Nigel De Jong and Mark Van Bommel bring both experience and balance to their midfield.
Up front the lethal Robin Van Persie, who, in my opinion, is one of the best left-footed players in world football, can be partnered with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar once one of the most craved strikers in Europe, the versatile Dirk Kuyt or the occasionally lethargic but otherwise explosive Ryan Babel. A strikeforce not to be under-estimated.
It is all well and good have superb options going forward but if the defence is leaking goals then more pressure will be on the strikers to come up with the goods and, ultimately, it is the defence of the Dutch that will lead to World Cup failure.
The loss of the player to have won the most caps for his country, Edwin Van Der Sar, was a huge blow but he was almost the wrong side of 40. Maarten Stekelenburg is set to be the number one after playing an important role for Ajax in the Eredivisie but his under-studies have 5 caps between the both of them and do not have big-match experience.
Across the back four, manager Bert van Marwijk can call upon the experienced Giovanni Van Bronckhorst - who has won 99 caps - to be the calming influence. Given his age, 35, I suspect that he would struggle against a winger with pace such as Aaron Lennon of England, Lionel Messi of Argentina or Franck Ribery of France.
In the heart of the defence, André Ooijer is not getting any quicker and, like Van Bronckhorst, will be susceptible to pace. Chelsea reject Khalid Boulahrouz is not the most solid of defenders despite Jaap Stam suggesting he could be the man to replace him as his natural successor.
Johnny Heitinga has impressed for Everton at centre half but has been preferred at right-back for the national side, but with the emergence of Gregory Van Der Wiel, he could end up marshalling the back four for the Oranje.
Holland, it is fair to say, have no "world-class" defenders amongst their ranks in comparison to other countries. England have Ashley Cole, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand; Brazil have Lucio, Maicon and Dani Alves; Spain have Sergio Ramos, Gerard Piqué and Carlos Puyol; the list goes on. A good side needs a solid foundation at the back and, for me, Holland are lacking.
The lack of a world-class defender, or even defenders, will be the downfall of the Dutch this Summer as the likes of Boulahrouz and Van Bronckhorst struggle against world-class strikers like Fernando Torres, Luis Fabiano and Gonzalo Higuáin in the latter stages of the World Cup.
I am sure that, with a few good additions to their squad in four years time when emerging talents like Van Der Wiel have had time to mature and improve their game as well as having the likes of Van Bronckhorst retire to allow bright prospects to come through, the Dutch will be in better stead to mount a serious challenge for the World Cup but 2010, unfortunately, has come too soon.
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