No World Cup is complete without either a Group of Death or a sticker album, and Group C delivers both items. Mateja Kezman, once of Chelsea and PSV Eindhoven, mentioned yesterday that he worshipped the current Holland manager Marco van Basten - as a boy "I collected all his stickers" - while previously the Serbia & Montenegro's manager Ilija Petkovic said the Group of Death will spell the end for one of the group's two favourites: "Either Argentina or Holland will not make it to the second round." A bold call.
By tomorrow night we will be given an idea of Petkovic's accuracy. Tonight in Hamburg Argentina face the Ivory Coast; tomorrow afternoon in Leipzig the group continues with the Serbs taking on the Dutch.
Holland and Argentina will hope that outcomes follow the bookmakers' expectations in their first two group games, so that Petkovic will be proved incorrect that when the two meet in their last match in Frankfurt on Wednesday week it becomes an eliminator. Both Argentina and Holland might take optimism from the fact that Serbia & Montenegro are literally disintegrating - the two states separated legally on Wednesday and this is the last time one united football team will represent the two nations.
With only one Montenegran in their likely starting line-up, the goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric, who plays for Ankaraspor in Turkey, it is effectively a Serb team regardless, but Savo Milosevic, now with Osasuna, said the timing of the country's split has not been helpful.
The changing political landscape of the Balkans also means that the memory of the last time Serbs met Holland in a major finals, in the quarter-finals of Euro 2000, is skewed by them then representing Yugoslavia.
Milosevic is one of the current Serb squad to survive from six years ago - in fact Milosevic scored Yugoslavia's 90th-minute goal in Amsterdam that day. Unfortunately for him, Holland had scored six times earlier in the game. Edwin van der Sar and Philip Cocu, who both played in that game, are likely to start again tomorrow.
The Dutch have been mindful not to give the impression that they are taking anything for granted and a glance at Kezman's statistics from his four seasons in Eindoven will remind them of the threat he poses: Kezman scored 129 goals in 174 appearances for PSV. "It will surely be a titanic tussle in Leipzig on Sunday," he said, "but I expect a good result. I have many friends among Dutch players and knowing them so well could turn out to be an advantage. But we will have to be at our absolute best to beat them."
That scoring record of Kezman's will give the Serbs some confidence, and it will hardly be undermined by a recollection of their journey through qualification. Finishing top of a group that included Spain and Belgium, Serbia conceded only one goal along the way. Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic was central to their defensive solidity and Ruud van Nistelrooy will be pleased that Vidic is suspended.
Eyes will be on Van Nistelrooy tomorrow to examine his form following the post-end-of-season fall-out at United - and several English club managers will also be scrutinising Dirk Kuyt, too.
But if both are motivated to perform and with Dutch injuries melting away, there is a rising, quiet belief that Holland can make an impact in Germany having not made the journey to South Korea and Japan.
For them and the Serbs it is better to be in the Group of Death than no group at all.