He captained Argentina to victory over the Dutch in the 1978 final and 20 years on they stand between him and his goal of becoming only the third man to win the World title as both player and coach.

Passarella named the Dutch, 1998 descendants of Johan Cruyff's side of the 1970s, as the team that had most impressed him during the earlier phases.

``They have the patience to play a precision game of passing and accelerate at the right moment,'' Passarella said. ``No one hurries to make the pass for goal. This creates despair in their opponents and opens the way to hit them.''

Having suffered in Argentina's touch-and-go second-round clash with England, Passarella appears set to make changes in tactics and personnel to counter the Dutch threat.

The defence in particular will be tightened. England, who Argentina finally overcame on penaltiesfollowing their 2-2 draw after extra-time, attacked the Argentine defence at a speed and with a width they had not previously encountered in the tournament.

``We must try to take the mid-field from them as we have in our other matches,'' captain Diego Simeone said.

The Argentines could revert from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2 with Javier Zanetti, who scored a fine equaliser against England, in the right back position.

Simeone would move across from the left of mid-field to play in front of Zanetti in a double guard on Dutch dangerman marc Overmars, seen as a threat similar to England's brilliant teenager Michael Owen.

River Plate mid-fielder Sergio Berti would step into the vacant left mid-field slot with winger Claudio Lopez dropped, leaving five-goal Gabriel Batistuta as sole striker with the brilliant Ariel Ortega lurking just behind. This could suit the Dutch according to captain Frank de Boer.

On the injury front, Passarella hopes experienced Parma defender Nestor Sensini will be fit to return at the backafter pulling a thigh muscle against Jamaica 12 days ago. Batistuta is looking to increase his Argentine record of 47 goals and nine in two World Cups, while Bergkamp is one short of a Dutch record of 36.

Probable teams

Argentina: 1-Carlos Roa; 22-Javier Zanetti, 2-Roberto Ayala, 6-Nestor Sensini, 3-Jose Chamot; 8-Diego Simeone (captain), 5-Matias Almeyda, 11-Juan Veron, 16-Sergio Berti; 10-Ariel Ortega, 9-Gabriel Batistuta

Netherlands: 1-Edwin van der Sar; 20-Aron Winter, 3-Jaap Stam, 4-Frank de Boer (captain), 5-Arthur Numan; 7-Ronald de Boer, 10-Clarence Seedorf, 16-Edgar Davids, 14-Marc Overmars; 11-Phillip Cocu, 8-Dennis Bergkamp.