Mark Fleks is looking forward to the moment when Louis van Gaal will announce his final squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Latvia (October 8) and Gibraltar (October 11), he tells. The Telegraph. The 28-year-old SC Freiburg closing post was told two weeks ago that he is part of national coach Louis van Gaal’s pre-selection for the upcoming international match in October and would be “super honored” if he receives a final invitation.
After the match between the Netherlands and Turkey on September 7, Louis van Gaal announced at the press conference that Fleks is on the national coach’s radar. The goalkeeper himself only realized this the next morning, as he recently had a daughter and was therefore already asleep. “My wife and I had planned it so that I would sleep after my game, so that I could feed at night. The next morning I received that video clip from everyone. I really liked that,” says Flek. He already spoke about the Dutch national team with his parents and agent. “That if I performed at a high level for a year or six months, maybe an opportunity would come along.”
“The Bundesliga is of course one of the top competitions in Europe. But that it would happen after just five games, no one in my area expected that. Neither did I,” continues Flek. He came to Freiburg via Roda JC Kerkrade, Alemannia Aachen, Greuther Fürth and MSV Duisburg and is the first goalkeeper after Alexander Schwolow left for Hertha BSC. This season, he has played seven official games for Freiburg for the time being. For the closing post of SC Freiburg, Manuel Neuer and Gianluigi Buffon are great examples. “That’s a level I’m aiming for. No one knows if I’ll ever make it. But I get up for that every day.”
“I’m looking forward to it. My phone is not on silent. I can see if a Dutch number appears on my screen”, Flek is sober about the moment that the final selection of the Dutch is announced. With Justin Bijlow (Feyenoord), Joë Drommel (PSV) and Tim Krul (Norwich City), there are three more keepers in the preliminary selection of national coach Van Gaal. “I would be very honored if I was in the the Dutch selection. With such an elite selection. Because that’s what you can call it.”
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