Three wins out of three in Group E have given Bert Van Marwijk's side the momentum ahead of their last 16 tie against Slovakia.
But the Group F runners-up, who qualified ahead of defending champions Italy, are clearly capable of surprising their more illustrious rivals.
"This is an opponent we must not underestimate. We cannot be nonchalant," urged Van Marwijk.
The Netherlands made a disappointing second round exit four years ago and are now determined to show that they have to quality to go further.
"That period of negligence (against Cameroon) we had, we cannot afford that again," he continued.
"It's a bit of a lesson for the next match."
Slovakia are already exceeding expectations, with South Africa 2010 their first ever World Cup finals.
Vladimir Weiss's men were held to a 1-1 draw by New Zealand and defeated 2-0 by Paraguay, but pulled off a sensational 3-2 win over Italy to progress.
