This is not the first time that the Oranje have found themselves headed into the knockout round of a Euro on the back of a perfect group stage.

At Euro 2000, the host Dutch finished atop Group D with wins over Denmark, the Czech Republic (their opponents on Sunday) and France in a memorable encounter. That team, brimming with stars like Patrick Kluivert, Dennis Bergkamp, Clarence Seedorf and Edwin van der Sar, seemed primed to make a run at their first international trophy since Euro 1988. That feeling grew when the Oranje routed the former Yugoslavia 6-1 in the quarter-finals, led by a Kluivert hat trick and a brace from Marc Overmars.

But a championship in front of home fans in Rotterdam wasn’t to be. The Oranje fell on penalties to Italy in the semis with only Kluivert converting and three other players failing to beat Francesco Toldo. That Netherlands squad, which was never beaten in regulation, would go down as one of the finest teams to come up empty at a Euro.

Now into the knockout round of a the Euros for the first time in 13 years, the Oranje want to write a better ending to a perfect start.

“What we need to do is believe in what we are trying to achieve,” manager Frank de Boer, a member of that 2000 squad, said. “Let’s hope that it will stay like this so it means we are achieving good results or getting further in the tournament.”

To do this, a pair of de Boer’s former Oranje teammates believes the right strike partner for Memphis Depay will go a long way to optimizing the Dutch attack. After handing a start to Wout Weghorst in the Dutch’s first two matches, Donyell Malen got the nod in his place against North Macedonia.

For Roy Makaay, that’s the way to go.

"In the second round, I would always start Malen and not with Weghorst," the former Netherlands and Bayern Munich striker told Dutch outlet De Telegraf. "With the Malen-Depay duo, the national team's game has much more variety. It has already been seen against North Macedonia.  If Depay features as a forward, Malen starts from the left and vice versa. The Netherlands were much more difficult to defend [against North Macedonia] than in the previous duels."

Pierre van Hooijdonk concurs with that assessment.

"If the Oranje want to achieve something in this European Championship, De Boer has to play Malen against the toughest opponents," the former Feyenoord and Celtic striker said. "That's the only way this Dutch team have a chance to become European champions."

In the knockout round at a Euro for the second time since 2012, the Czechs know that they have a difficult task ahead of them, but believe they’re up to the challenge.

"It'll be a tough match,” defender Pavel Kaderabek said. “We'll play in Budapest, in front of a probably packed stadium. The Dutch have immense quality, especially going forward. They're really great, so we have to watch out for that."

Kaderabek was in the lineup the last time these two nations met. The Czech Republic and the Oranje were drawn into the same qualifying group for Euro 2016. After defeating the Dutch 2-1 in Prague in the fall of 2014, the Czechs also won the return fixture in Amsterdam, 3-2, in October of 2015. The Oranje failed to qualify for the tournament.

"I scored three goals for the national team and one of them was in this game,” Kaderabek said. “A player remembers all his international goals, so I still remember that match vividly. They had it all to play for, we didn't have any pressure on us anymore, and I think it ended 3-2, so I have only the best memories of it. If people tell me to pick a match against the Netherlands, I won't say the one during EURO 2004 [in which the Czechs were 3-2 victors], but the one in 2015, because that's the one I played in."

POTENTIAL NETHERLANDS XI: Stekelenburg; van Aanholt, Blind, de Ligt, de Vrij, Dumfries; Frenkie de Jong, Wijnaldum, de Roon; Malen, Depay

POTENTIAL CZECH REPUBLIC XI: Vaclik; Coufal, Celustka, Kalas, Mateju; Holes, Soucek; Masopust, Darida, Jankto; Schick