No new virus cases have come to light in the Dutch, a spokesman for the KNVB has announced The Telegraph. National coach Ronald Koeman said during the press conference on Thursday that he feared new cases, but that is not the case. On Wednesday evening, no less than five players were affected by an infection. The newspaper mentioned above reported that it was food poisoning, but those rumors have been debunked.
It is one of the few days since his appointment that Koeman does not immediately have to deal with setbacks. After Frenkie de Jong and Steven Bergwijn initially had to drop out for the European Championship qualifier against France, an infection was added on Thursday morning. Matthijs de Ligt, Sven Botman, Joey Veerman, Bart Verbruggen and Cody Gakpo had to leave the camp immediately. Three replacements were called up for them.
Despite the large number of absentees, Koeman is confident about the game against France. “Fortunately, I trained a lot of guys in a different position this week. In that respect, the battle plan does not change,” said the national coach, who also experimented with Brian Brobbey as a winger. “We have a double occupation in all offensive positions. I have six attackers on paper and that is enough for me.” After the failure of Berwijn, Koeman already brought Donyell Malen into the group.
The Dutch initially worked with 25 players towards the duel with the French, but that number has been reduced to 23 by all dropouts. In the run-up to the duel with Gibraltar (Monday), the situation will be reviewed. The preparation is far from ideal for Ryan Gravenberch and Kjell Scherpen. They came over late on Thursday from the Dutch Juniors and did not train with them yet. Stefan de Vrij did. The duel with France starts on Friday evening at 8.45 pm in the Stade de France.