The pressure could hardly have been greater for Giovanni van Bronckhorst when he was given a starting place in Holland's opening match of Euro 2000 in front of a packed and partisan Amsterdam Arena.

In the circumstances, the Rangers midfielder would have been forgiven for feeling nervous, though it was the presence of a club team-mate on the bench which intensified the situation.

To those used to watching his virtuoso performances from left-central midfield in the SPL every other week, the sight of van Bronckhorst turning out at left-back while Arthur Numan sat on the sidelines was as big a surprise as the tournament has so far turned up.

For the former Feyenoord player, however, loyalty to the national team cause took precedence over any sympathy he had for Numan as van Bronckhorst admitted that he is happy to play in any position for Holland.

'Of course I'm more used to midfield but we have a lot of injuries and for me to play left-back is just part of the Dutch way of doing things,' he said.

'We have to be flexible and I'm happy to play at left-back or anywhere else for that matter. With the national side, you get the chance to go forward and attack, and against the Czech Republic we had a lot of the ball.'

Despite a commanding first-half performance in which the home goal was barely threatened, the tournament favourites were over-run in the second period and were fortunate in the end to win courtesy of a penalty in the last minute.

Van Bronckhorst believes that the Dutch will improve and the pressure which has been squatting heavily upon the players' shoulders has been eased a little by the collection of the three points on Sunday night.

'The pressure on us is amazing and everyone expects us to become European champions but you have to look at the group we're in,' he said.

'The first half of the first game was always going to be the most important time for us and we came through that well. We commanded the period but the home support demand more than that.

'They expect us to play in a certain way and we showed what we can do in that first half and I think we just needed to get through that and get ourselves eased into the tournament.'

With France showing that they have lost nothing of the sparkle which illuminated the World Cup two years ago, the 24-year-old midfielder has already forecast a Group D showdown in Amsterdam a week tommorrow.

Should both sides win their next matches, qualification will follow for both with the main prize for winning the section the probability of an easier draw for the next round.

Holland, however, are eyeing a similar advantage to the one which helped sweep France to victory on home soil and van Bronckhorst is admant that they will show the form to achieve that.

'We're very close to being 100 per cent and we have a few more days before we play the Danes. We'll learn from the mistakes and improve,' he said.

'Holland have had some tough games against Denmark in the past and we don't expect anything different on Friday.

'The French looked very good against the Danes but they had a few players missing. If we both win our next matches then it is between us for the group and I hope that happens.

'Our chance of winning the championship is, in my opinion, equal to France's, though home advantage might give us an edge.

'For the other reason of staying in Holland to play games, it is a great incentive to come out on top, apart from the kind of serious psychological boost that beating the world champions would obviously have.'