Schaars and de Jong on standby for injury-hit Dutch

Hamburg's Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong (L) vies against Kaiserslautern's Turkish striker Halil Altintop, at the AOL-Arena stadium in Hamburg, in March 2006. Coach Marco Van Basten called up midfielders Stijn Schaars and Jong on standby as the Dutch World Cup squad struggle with an injury crisis.

Coach Marco Van Basten called up midfielders Stijn Schaars and Nigel de Jong on standby as the Dutch World Cup squad struggle with an injury crisis.

With chief playmaker Rafael van der Vaart of Hamburg still missing with an injured ankle, van Basten lost four more players during a bruising 1-1 encounter against Australia at the weekend.

Also struggling for fitness are Wesley Sneijder (ankle), Phillip Cocu (thigh), Kew Jaliens (leg) and Giovanni van Bronckhorst (calf).

"At the moment we're not certain if any of these players needs to be replaced. But if unfortunately this is the case it's better that the substitute is available immediately," said a Dutch football federation spokesman.

Van Basten is authorised to replace an injured player up until 24 hours before a match - with the deadline on June 10 the day before their Group C tie against Serbia-Montenegro.

AZ Alkmaar's Schaars has recentely won the European under-21 tournament with the Dutch team, while HSV Hamburg's de Jong is a more experienced player who did not make the original squad of 23 because of a knee injury from which he has now totally recovered.

The 25-man Dutch squad arrive at their base in Hinterzarten, south western Germany on Tuesday night.

The Netherlands other Group C opponents are Argentina and the Ivory Coast.