Daley Blind played briefly for the Dutch national team on Tuesday against Romania (0-3 win) and now has 108 international matches. The left-footed defender is hot on the heels of Rafael van der Vaart (109 international matches), but emphasizes at the press conference on Thursday that he is not competing with the former midfielder.

“Koeman must stop this nonsense substitution to give Blind an international match,” Van der Vaart said on Tuesday in his role as analyst at the NOS in the two minutes that national coach Ronald Koeman granted Blind in the final phase of the round of 16 match against the Romanians.

Blind

Blind, now 34, responds two days later to the fact that he has almost overtaken Van der Vaart and Frank de Boer (112 caps) in terms of international matches. “No, it is not an ambition for me. I am already proud that I have been able to play so many international matches. I am incredibly proud that I have been able to reach 100.”

“It's not a battle for me, and I hope I'll be around for a long time. It's clear that I'm proud of my international career,” said Blind, who will probably be a reserve player again against Turkey on Saturday.

Blind was a regular at Oranje for years. That is different now for the veteran. “The reserve role takes some getting used to. It is also a challenge again. Now I have to keep my teammates sharp. You are in a different role for a while. As a player you want to play every match, but it is ultimately the coach's choice.”

“I still find it a great honour to play for the Dutch national team. I never hesitated to say 'no'”, according to the 108-times international. Blind can also overtake Frank de Boer in the long term. The former player and national coach of Oranje ended with 112 international matches.

Turkey

Blind also briefly looks ahead to the encounter with Turkey, which knocked out Austria in the round of 16. “Turkey always brings a lot of emotion, passion and fight, so we have to be on our guard. It is a quarter-final in a final tournament and will therefore be a tough match. Many boys have been able to experience the pressure. Hopefully it will be a great match.”

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