Welcome back, Arjen

Holland's World Cup campaign has been decidedly subdued. The Dutch are one of only two teams left in the competition - alongside Argentina - that has won every match it has contested. Laboriously wrought victories over Denmark (2-0), Japan (1-0) and Cameroon (2-1) in the group stages were followed by a conservative but mostly comfortable 2-1 win over Slovakia in the second round on Monday afternoon in Durban.

Bert van Marwijk's team scored quite early on in the game and then spent about an hour just trying to keep hold of the ball and reduce Slovakia's options by refusing them a fair share of possession. This worked well enough, although it made for an agonisingly slow spectacle, until Vladimir Weiss' men sprang to life towards the end of the second half.

The former Yugoslavian minnows were set out in a very ambitious 4-2-3-1 style to match Holland, with Miroslav Stoch and Weiss junior both starting for the first time next to Marek Hamsik behind Robert Vittek. Late in the game they threatened to find a way back into the contest, but their hopes were eventually dashed by Wesley Sneijder's 84th minute finish. Vittek did manage to draw level with Gonzalo Higuain as the World Cup's leading scorer on four goals with a penalty, but that did not come in time to inspire a comeback as it proved to be the last kick of the game.

Thus Holland have managed to saunter into the quarter-finals, where they will face Brazil on Friday, without moving out of third gear yet. There was, however, one definitive indication on Monday that the Dutch could move up a gear or two to cause Dunga's samba boys real problems in the last eight. That was the return of Arjen Robben.

Injury kept the Bayern Munich winger out of the side for all three of Holland's group stage matches and even though he doesn't feel 100% yet, he was head and shoulders above the rest of his team mates as he guided them past Slovakia. It was his 18th minute solo goal that gave van Marwijk's side a vital early lead. With typical style and panache, Robben cut in from the right wing, dribbled past a few defenders and hammered a low left-footed strike past Jan Mucha in the Slovakia goal. As a left footed player causing havoc by drifting in from the right, only Lionel Messi can claim superiority over the former Groningen cadet in the world game at the moment.

Manuel Pellegrini cited the sale of Arjen Robben against his will to Bayern Munich last summer as the beginning of the breakdown in his relationship with the Real Madrid hierarchy during his ill-fated one year stint in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Chilean coach obviously saw the quality that makes Robben, when fit, among the best three or four players of his generation. Unfortunately, that fitness clause has always been a significant problem. 

Muscle injuries caused by Robben's explosive style and his tendency to exaggerate his physical problems have been a constant source of frustration for his managers down the years. It is said that the Bayern Munich number 10 refuses to play unless he feels absolutely ready, often contradicting the opinion of his doctors and physios when they feel he is in good condition. Playing through the pain barrier doesn't seem like something that the 26 year is prepared to do.

It is not for nothing that around 82 million euros has been spent on transfer fees for Holland's brightest star.

    Arjen Robben's accumulative transfer worth: 82m

Groningen to PSV - 4m
PSV to Chelsea -18m
Chelsea to Real Madrid - 35m
Real Madrid to Bayern Munich - 25m

That makes him one of the most expensive players in the history of the game. In today's inflated transfer market, he is worth every penny. Robben was the key figure in Bayern Munich's remarkable season in which they won a domestic double and narrowly missed out on an historic treble with a Champions League final defeat to Inter Milan. Consistency on the fitness front played a big part, as the Dutch master responded to his many doubters by scoring 23 goals in 37 appearances, in what was by far the best season of his spectacular career to date.

While doubts about his physical durability roll on, buoyed, if anything, by his problems in this competition, Robben's ability has never been questioned. He is the most technically gifted player at Bayern Munich, just as he was at Real Madrid, Chelsea, PSV Eindoven and Groningen before that, and he is surely the most serious threat to Brazil's progress to the semi-finals here in South Africa.