Yes, the vuvuzela has found its way to the land of the Orange Army and this is just one of the many ways the Dutch are forging ahead with their plans for the 2010 World Cup.

Last week, in preparation for the tournament, the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs, in cooperation with the Netherlands embassy in South Africa, hosted local journalists to discuss, among other things, Dutch plans for the World Cup.

Between 10000 and 12000 Dutch fans are expected to travel to SA. This will be coupled with the 40000 Dutch citizens the Netherlands embassy in Pretoria says live in SA.

"The 100000-plus Netherlands fans painted Germany orange at the 2006 World Cup but South Africa is not Germany," said Royal Netherlands Football Association 2010 event coordinator Hidde Salverda.

"We are on a drive to inform and educate our supporters about concerns such as poor public transport, safety and any other risks associated with events of this magnitude."

The Dutch team will set up camp at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton and train at the Bidvest Stadium. They will bring their own staff, from cooks to doctors.

The team will arrive in SA only a few weeks before the tournament starts because they have state-of-the-art training facilities at home that are even able to replicate different climactic conditions.

"The national sports centre in Papendal, Arnhem, where the offices of the Netherlands Olympic Committee and the Netherlands Sports Confederation are based, have hi-tech facilities that can change the climate," said Olympic Committee director of international affairs Marije Dippel. "So, there's no need to leave early for another country to acclimatise. It's one of the things the Dutch pride themselves on."

The Dutch police are also getting involved and will make sure Dutch football hooligans do not make it to SA. A team of spotters - experienced Dutch police officers - will protect the visiting Dutch supporters in fan parks and stadiums.

"We will bring eight spotters, two coordinators and three liason officers who will deal with the SA police," said the chief of central information for football, Henk Groenevelt.

"We had a team of 18 for 140000 supporters at the Euro 2008 tournament in Switzerland and Austria.

"Our job is to help local police to spot troublemakers among the crowds. We are not going to be armed."

The randy Orange Army have been advised to bring their own condoms by Mariette Bussemaker, the Netherlands health, welfare and sport state secretary. She was informed of a condom shortage during a recent visit to Cape Town.

As part of their legacy programme, the Dutch have lined up a number of social uplift programmes.

The Johan Cruyff Foundation is building two Cruyff Courts, in Crossroads and Hillbrow. Cruyff Courts are mini soccer pitches with artificial turf.

The ministry of foreign affairs, together with the Dutch football association, are involved in the Hillbrow youth development programme with Bidvest Wits, the Hillbrow police and Wits University.

This is in a joint venture that helps school children and street kids develop skills through football and steers them away from drugs, crime, violence and HIV/Aids.

There's also the Stars in their Eyes project, which aims to augment the capacities and knowledge of SA soccer coaches so they can equip young people in poor neighbourhoods.

The Vrije University in Amsterdam has linked up with the North West University in Mafikeng in a programme that analyses players and team tactics through visual search and movement behaviour.

The initiative - decision-making skills in sport - is run by the faculty of human movement sciences.