Jordy Clasie was one of the thirteen dropouts in the World Cup selection. The AZ midfielder was included in the pre-selection by national coach Louis van Gaal, but received a phone call on Friday morning that he does not have to pack his bags for Qatar. According to Pascal Jansen, this has partly to do with the fact that Clasie is not one hundred percent fit. Had that been the case, he would have had a serious chance at the World Cup, says the AZ trainer.
Van Gaal selected Clasie ten years ago for a practice match against Belgium. Two years later, he was part of the final selection for the World Cup in Brazil, where the Netherlands took a bronze medal. The small midfielder from AZ again belonged to the provisional selection corps, but had to recognize his superior in, among others, Frenkie de Jong, Teun Koopmeiners, Davy Klaassen, Marten de Roon and Kenneth Taylor. Jansen thinks Van Gaal’s choice is fair.
“It’s a legit story,” quotes The Telegraph from Jansen’s mouth. “Jordy has other priorities physically at the moment. The tendon in his knee just needs attention. Don’t forget that we have already played 25 matches with AZ, that is a lot for the load on the tendon in question. From the conversations with Jordy I know that he hoped for a place in the World Cup selection. But if you are going to play a World Cup you have to be a player with maximum load capacity. That is not the case with Jordy and that is a shame. Because a one hundred percent fit Jordy Clasie had a serious chance at the World Cup.”
Due to the loss of Clasie, AZ does not deliver a single player to the global final tournament for the first time in a long time. The club has a number of internationals with Jesper Karlsson (Sweden), Milos Kerkez (Hungary), Pantelis Hatzidiakos and Vangelis Pavlidis (both Greece), but they did not qualify with their country. Earlier it was announced that the World Cup was not feasible for Bruno Martins Indi. An additional advantage for AZ is that nobody has to hold back on Saturday evening, when the Alkmaarders play the top match against PSV in Eindhoven.