Guus Hiddink gave his stamp of approval to the Netherlands as they prepared to face favourites Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday, even if compatriot Johan Cruyff is yet to be fully converted to the cause.

The former Dutch coach is among the most sought after football handlers in the world with his name inevitably on the short list when a vacancy occurs at national team or club level.

And his comments to Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad ahead of the first World Cup clash between the countries can only lift morale in the 'Orange' camp before a Soccer City showdown set to draw a sell-out 90,000 crowd.

"The Dutch have become a little like the Germans of yesteryear - realism has replaced beautiful football," said the coach recently hired by Turkey for the Euro 2012 qualifying competition.

"It is not always pretty to the eye and I would like more time spent playing nice football, but what coach Bert van Marwijk and his players have succeeded in doing is extraordinary," said the 63-year-old.

Hiddink refused to join Dutch legend Cruyff in criticising the style of football that has overcome Denmark, Japan, Cameroon, Slovakia, Brazil and Uruguay for a 100 percent record in South Africa that even Spain cannot match.

"Who am I to criticise when I have never coached a team that reached the World Cup final?," asked the man who guided Netherlands to the 1998 semi-finals and repeated the feat with South Korea four years later.

"Van Marwijk has given the team a lot of assurance. We could see against Brazil how difficult it is to play against the Dutch," he said referring to a come-from-behind 2-1 quarter-final triumph.

Hiddink-coached Russia eliminated Netherlands in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 - the last major national team football tournament before the first World Cup staged by Africa.

Cruyff, a superstar of the 1970s when the Dutch finished runners-up to hosts West Germany and Argentina in consecutive World Cup finals, has reservations about the class of 2010 and will not be in Johannesburg for the final.

"Half the players in the team are very good and the other half have still to show that they are," the three-time European Footballer of the Year told De Telegraaf.

He had special praise for Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg and wide Liverpool midfielder Dirk Kuyt, saying the duo surpassed expectations and were among the main reasons whey the Dutch had reached the final.

Cruyff had cast aside patriotic sentiments in a midweek interview with Spanish newspaper El Periodico de Catalunya and said he was backing Spain against his countrymen.

"Spain, a replica of Barca, are the best publicity for football. Who am I supporting? I am Dutch but I support the football that Spain is playing," he admitted.

Beaten semi-finalists Germany and Uruguay will fight for third place on the eve of the final just as they did 40 years ago in Mexico with a goal from Wolfgang Overath settling the outcome.

Miroslav Klose is hoping to shake off a back injury and score the two goals that would make him the most prolific World Cup scorer, a record held by 15-goal Brazilian Ronaldo.

German captain and defender Philipp Lahm and midfielder Lukas Podolski are doubts because of flu while Uruguay welcome back injured defender and captain Diego Lugano and striker Luis Suarez has served a one-match ban.

He was suspended for deliberately handling a goal-bound header from Ghana in the dying seconds of a quarter-final and after the Africans fluffed the resultant penalty, the South Americans won a shoot-out.

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