Friday, March 19, 2021 at 5:48 PM• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 17:53

Riechedly Bazoer has rejected an invitation for the Curaçao national team, it reports De Gelderlander. National coach Guus Hiddink would have liked to have called up the defender / midfielder of Vitesse for this month’s World Cup qualifying matches, but Bazoer would rather wait for a new chance at the the Dutch.

Curaçao will start the very tough World Cup qualifying cycle for the final tournament in Qatar at the end of March. The first opponents in the group are Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Cuba. On Tuesday, Hiddink announced his 24-man selection and there were many players with experience in the Eredivisie, such as RKC Waalwijk midfielder Vurnon Anita, former PSV goalkeeper Eloy Room, ex-Feyenoord defender Cuco Martina, former FC Groningen brothers Juninho Bacuna and Leandro Bacuna, ex-AZ striker Charlison Benschop and SC Cambuur forward Jarchinio Antonia.

Bazoer was not summoned and he is said to be the Gelderlander is still aiming for a return to the Dutch. There will be ‘absolutely no question of an adventure at Curaçao in the near future,’ writes the regional newspaper, based on sources from the playmaker’s camp. Bazoer made his debut for the Dutch in November 2015 and last wore the shirt in June 2016. All his six international matches for the the Dutch were friendly matches. He was named as a potential candidate for the selection of the Dutch for the next international matches, but just before the announcement of the preliminary selection, he was temporarily expelled from the selection of Vitesse due to misconduct.

“Of course I have been approached a few times by Guus Hiddink”, Bazoer acknowledged in conversation with last month ESPN. “But I still have a goal: I would prefer to try to end up with the Dutch national team. I absolutely do not want to talk myself into the Dutch national team. I try to reach a high level every match and then we’ll see.” This season he is one of the key players of Vitesse. He operates in the center of the five-man defense and makes a major contribution to the build-up with his footballing qualities. However, the past weeks were unhappy: he missed the game with AZ (2-1 win) due to his removal from the selection and was red carded on his return to FC Utrecht (1-3 win).