Giovanni van Bronckhorst has warned Brazil that Holland are ready to break their World Cup stranglehold over them.

Confident: Holland believe that they can finally defeat Brazil in a World Cup finals

Holland have twice in recent times suffered heartbreaking exits at the hands of the five-times winners, going out at the quarter-final stage in 1994 and then in the semis four years later after a penalty shoot-out.

But there is a growing confidence in the Dutch camp that they can get past Dunga's men and stake their own claim on a trophy they have never won despite several near misses.

The two sides meet at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth in the last eight on Friday, and skipper Van Bronckhorst is confident the tables will be turned.

He said: "We want to win the game, that's obvious. Obviously, the games in the past haven't gone our way, but we want to win the World Cup, and that means we have to beat Brazil.

"We are confident, but we are playing against a great team. Football is played for 90 minutes or even longer and we will go out tomorrow and do everything we can to win the game.

"We are a tight group. This team has been together for four or six years now and we know what the strengths of all the players are.

"It's always good to go out on to the pitch with a team you can trust. We go into every game to win it and fight for each other, and everybody has to believe we can win this match.

"The game against Brazil is a big game, but we are confident and we will go out on to the pitch tomorrow to win."

Holland's progress to the quarter-finals has been little short of serene as they emerged from a group also including Japan, Denmark and Cameroon with a 100 per cent record before beating Slovakia far more comprehensively than the 2-1 scoreline suggests in the last 16.

However, there is a feeling there is more to come, and Van Bronckhorst agrees.

He said: "The four matches we have won, we have deserved to win, albeit not with beautiful football.

"We have played a very thorough game, very concentrated and in the end, we have won the match.

"But of course we are capable of playing better football than we have shown so far and I hope we can show that when we really need to show it against Brazil, one of the favourites for the title.

"We have to perform better, play better football and the chances are that if we are able to do that, we might be able to win the match."

The stakes will be raised considerably on Friday, but coach Bert van Marwijk has no doubts in his mind that his players are ready for the challenge.

He said: "Absolutely. We always try to prepare ourselves as well as possible, but the players are really, really excited for what is a very important game.

"Brazil are the favourites to win the World Cup and they have the best players. But we have proven that we can beat top teams, so we have full confidence in that."

The biggest prize of all will come into tantalising view for Van Marwijk's players if they can find a way past the Brazilians, but asked if he had promised them any reward for a victory, he was non-committal.

He said with a smile: "I haven't promised them anything, not yet. But I think they know that if we win, we will have a great evening."