"I don't have to deal with it, they have to deal with me": Michael van Gerwen fires warning to German crowd ahead of standout battle at World Cup of Darts

The Netherlands pairing of Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen were in good spirits on Saturday as they took down Sweden and survived a scare but managed to win through at the World Cup of Darts.

Speaking afterwards to the media including DartsNews.com, Van Gerwen and Van Veen were pleased to get through and showed good team spirit as well as firing a warning to German fans ahead of their battle with the home heroes tomorrow at the World Cup of Darts.

"I think it was okay and here and there I think we played some good darts. After that, because we started missing a few doubles, they started to give them a little bit of confidence. You saw them growing into the game as well with a 155 finish, Oskar (Lukasiak) with nearly a double nine and then a double 14 on the end and then it gives him confidence as well. But I have to admit Jeffrey (de Graaf) played a phenomenal game but overall I think there was only one winner and that was us," said Van Gerwen. "Sometimes you want to do more, you put yourself unnecessarily under pressure but yeah, who cares at the end of the day? We won and that's the only thing that matters."

For Van Veen, he added that it was good to get a few questions and answer them early doors than just breeze through. "Yeah, for me 100%. When I saw Northern Ireland win the first game against Belgium, that's a nice way to start the tournament and that's what we did today. We were put under pressure, especially Michael with a couple of finishes. When he put on the pressure, he took them out and I think that's very much more confidence going into tomorrow.

"And I think tomorrow we're going to be under so much different pressure. Today we were, of course, first game, different pressure but we dealt with it well and I think tomorrow we're going to be playing way better than today."

Winning Copenhagen last week, Van Gerwen rubbished any confidence, saying that in reality it's a different event. "I think we can't compare things like that with this tournament. This tournament is totally different. I've never played with Gian before but of course tournaments always help. I also like this tournament and it's the first time now in this format as well for me. It's a new thing and I'm looking forward to tomorrow and I hope we can do even better tomorrow."

Asked to give his thoughts on playing with Van Veen for the first time, MVG as ever had a witty response. "Useless, absolutely useless." As Van Veen jokingly responded. "You know what? I'm walking off."

Having not played pairs before like this all the way through, Van Gerwen said that if he didn't like it he would be honest and that he enjoyed his opening gambit. "Yeah, it was the first time for me and I enjoyed it, definitely. Otherwise I wouldn't say that. Everyone knows I'm always honest but no, I really enjoyed it. Of course a win always helps but you need to make sure you keep believing in your own ability, but not your own ability because you're now playing pairs. You also need to believe in your partner and I think that's what you have to keep believing in."

Van Veen said that MVG does feel like the captain of the team. "We've got four stars in the back of our shirt. Michael's won three of them."

But Van Gerwen chimed in that it isn't a point of order. "But that doesn't matter. I just want to help. I even said to him, you need to know your strengths, you need to know your weaknesses. If you look at my last 50 games, I probably lost 40 times the bull. I also said to him, "Hey, you start the bull, and what do you do when you win the bull?" You need to trust each other. Try to find your strength because that's how you win tournaments. That's why you're a pair."

"Of course experience helps but you still need to do it on the day. I know his capability. I know this. I know Gian since he was a little kid, you know what I mean? So it's totally different and I really enjoyed to play with him. I said it to him, I said it to everyone and I hope we can go all the way and I can't find any reason why not."

After his much mooted health issues, Van Veen added that it would mean even more to seal the title including with Van Gerwen. "I think it would mean the world to me, of course. The last couple of months have been a bit of a struggle for me but to win this tournament this weekend with Michael, it would mean the world to me. So I'm feeling very confident.

"Back in the day, that was your dream. I tell everyone the truth," joked Van Gerwen and the camaraderie continued for Van Veen. "When I was a little kid I always looked up to Michael. If tomorrow evening we're lifting the title, it would be a dream come true. But it's a long way to go and tonight was just a start and hopefully tomorrow we can pick it up and go further."

Van Veen played with Noppert last year and he said that it's different dynamics with Noppert being also a friend and Van Gerwen is the added dynamic of him being the finest Dutch player in history.

"Last year with Danny, I'm really good friends with Danny so we know each other's games inside and out. I know the same with Michael but it's always a bit different. As a Dutchman you always look up to Michael van Gerwen and he's the Dutch number one in the history of this sport. So it's always an honour to play with Michael.

"You're always a bit stressed when you play the first game. I think today was okay. Stop me, I'm going to cry. So it's a big test today. Even though I said I felt confident going into today, you never know what's going to happen when you play with Michael van Gerwen on that stage. But today was okay. I played decent enough. But yeah, it's very much different compared to last year."

Next is Germany and Van Gerwen fired a warning that he is used to it and to bring the noise at their peril. "To play Germany is going to be a tough one as well. But if you look at capability, what we are capable of when we're there, I think there can only be one winner. But with pressure, crowds, everything, things can get different.

"We need a good night's rest and prepare really well for tomorrow and then I think we can do some damage tomorrow. I've dealt with it so many times before. I don't have to deal with it. They have to deal with me. That's different. They have to keep shouting against me. The throat is going to hurt."