Mark Bresciano believes Australia's ability to cash in on their Dutch connections will help the Socceroos' bid to qualify for the World Cup finals in 2010.
Led by Dutchman Pim Verbeek, the Australians take on the Netherlands at Eindhoven's Phillips Stadium in a friendly early on Sunday (AEST), four days before their World Cup Asia group qualifier against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
In preparation, the Socceroos have returned to Mierlo, the site of their training camp for the 2006 World Cup where, led by Verbeek's compatriot Guus Hiddink, they reached the second round before losing controversially to Italy.
"We've got some memories here," Bresciano said via teleconference from the small town just outside Eindhoven.
"We're now here in Holland and playing against Holland which is good for us anyway because they're giving us a hand to prepare the best way we can for the game coming up in Uzbekistan.
"It's a bonus for us having these connections and being able to play a friendly match against Holland, which is a quality side."
Australian assistant coach Graham Arnold also has strong ties with the Netherlands, where he is highly regarded following stints as a player at Roda JC and NAC Breda in the 1990s.
While the Oranje promise a stern test for the Socceroos, Bresciano said the team also expected Uzbekistan to be a tough prospect.
"They did extremely well in the previous Asian Cup," Bresciano said of the team who reached the quarter-finals of the 2007 tournament.
"They play more a European style of football, so that's probably a bit better for us as a team to play against."
