Holland is the only country so far to host the premier hockey event twice. The first time was in 1973 when, in a dramatic action-packed final at Amsterdam, they overcame India on penalty-strokes to lift the handsome 120.85 cm gold and silver trophy.

Holland repeated this feat in 1990 at Lahore when they beat Pakistan 3-1 in the final. However in the 8th edition of the World Cup at Sydney in 1994, Pakistan had the last laugh when they outwitted the Dutch in the tie- breaker, 5-4 to claim the title for the fourth time.

Apart from Holland, who will have home advantage, the front runners for the title are Champions Trophy winners Germany and runners-up Australia.The defending champions Pakistan have brought a squad with a blend of experience and youth. Their challenge will be spearheaded by their strike force duo of Shahbaz Ahmed (Sr) and his skipper and brother-in-law Tahir Zaman,both of whom play in the Dutch league.

The fittest teams appear to be Germany and Australia apart from the hosts. However the team from Down Under, whose only World Cup title victory has been in 1986 at Willesden, London, have a distinct Asian flavour of play unlike the cold calibrated display of their European rivals.

The Aussie coach Terry Walsh exuded optimism and hoped that his quicksilver, nippy attack would penetrate any defence. Walsh said, ``Australian hockey has come alive once again after winning the Sultan Azlan trophy at Ipoh earlier this year defeating formidable opposition like Germany, South Korea and England. This was our first title victory after the Champions Trophy at Kuala Lumpur in 1993.''.

Germany have won many a title, having claimed the Champions Trophy seven times, European titles four times in addition to two Olympic golds. The only coveted title missing in their collection is the World Cup. Coach Paul Lissek who took over from Klaus Klieter after the Lahore World Cup was notvery forthcoming about his strategy. ``Of course the team should qualify for the semis as they have done in every big competition in the last 20 years,'' he said.

He admitted that Germany does not have a penalty-corner specialist of the class of Carsten Fischer, nor a flick expert like the Dutchman Bram Lomans.But Lissek said: ``We however did experiment with Limburg Greenhorn Mark Schreiber during our away Test series against India early this year. The 20- year-old youngster did not disappoint when he scored all our three goals at the New Delhi Test with drag flicks. I hope Schreiber and our other experienced players will rise to the occasion this time too.''

Hosts Holland, who are the current Olympic champion, will start as huge favourites for the title. They will have the advantage of a vociferous crowd here, but on the other hand there will be a lot of pressure on them to fulfill high expectations.

For many it was little wonder that the Dutchmen could continue the success after the magic trio ofMarc Delissen, Floris Bovelander and Taco van den Honert, retired after the Atlanta Olympic gold medal triumph. The new team under coach Roelant Oltmans won the Champions Trophy at Chennai four months after the Atlanta success.

Oltmans was of the view that the tradition of Dutch penalty-corner experts set by Paul Litjens, Ties Kruize and Bovelander is continuing.The coach said that the `Oranjes' were confident of their current corner specialist Bram Lomans. The team under the captaincy of bespectacled mid-fielder Stephen Veen appeared to be in fine fettle when they had their work out at Galgenwaard this morning.