Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk says his players don't have to like one another, but they do have to accept and respect their teammates' qualities.

It is a recipe that has brought an unusually calm and cheerful mood to the Dutch team at the World Cup and helped it advance to the round of 16 with a perfect record of three wins.

At training on Sunday, a day ahead of the Netherlands' second round match with Slovakia in Durban, players laughed, joked and clapped one another at the Princess Magogo training pitch as Van Marwijk issued instructions.

That picture of unity was a far cry from some previous Dutch teams, which have been hit by dissent and division among players and coaching staff.

The most famous case was at the 1996 European Championship, when coach Guus Hiddink sent midfielder Edgar Davids home early for insulting him in an interview. That talented squad was reportedly also divided along ethnic lines.

More recently, star midfielder Wesley Sneijder and striker Robin van Persie bickered about which of them should have taken a free kick during the 2008 European Championship quarterfinal defeat to Russia.

Van Marwijk's predecessor, Marco van Basten fell out with Davids, Mark van Bommel and Clarence Seedorf and famously criticised Ruud van Nistelrooy during the 2006 World Cup.

So Van Marwijk laid down the law as soon as he took over the Netherlands following Euro 2008 and has never bothered trying to get the players to be superficially nice to one another.

"The most important message I had from day one was that the words 'team' and 'team building' sound friendly but I think if you are very friendly for one another at this level then you won't win," Van Marwijk said.

So in Van Marwijk's team, any friendships are forged out of mutual respect.

"You don't have to be one another's friends; it is about accepting and respecting one another's qualities," Van Marwijk said.

"Then you are a really good team and I think that has happened with us."

That newfound team spirit has contributed to a 22-match unbeaten run for the Netherlands dating back to September 2008 and a perfect record in World Cup qualifying and at this World Cup.

"Players have grown closer to one another and everything is calm around the team," Van Marwijk said.

In South Africa, it was France who imploded in acrimony - and went home after the first round.

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