National coach Frank de Boer will announce at 2 p.m. which eight players will be eliminated from the provisional European Championship selection of the Dutch national team. A large part of the pre-selection is not concerned at all, according to Bert van Marwijk. “Seventy to eighty percent know that he is definitely there, but for a number of boys it is a nerve-racking day,” say the former national coach who experienced the same Judgment Day in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championship.
Van Marwijk found it more difficult to bring the bad news than to make choices. Every football player wants to experience a final tournament. The former national coach spoke with each football player for ten to fifteen minutes. “As a coach you could also say: ‘I’m not taking you with me, because I don’t think you are good enough’, because that is what it comes down to. But I think you have to substantiate the choice, so that you have to prepare well, ”he explains The Telegraph from. “Some players need more explanation than others.”
“Most dropouts hardly respond. They are that disappointed. If they have to come to the national coach on the day that the decision is made, they already know that it is their turn. ” In 2010 Ron Vlaar, Vurnon Anita, Orlando Engelaar and Jeremain Lens were the dropouts. “It was a blow, a big disappointment. But to be honest, I saw it coming ”, Engelaar admits. “I hadn’t been as important as the year before and I wasn’t quite fit either.”
“When you see that your old teammates make it to the final, it is extra painful. But of course I gave everyone the very best. It took some time to process it. ” Four years earlier, in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup, Barry Opdam’s world collapsed figuratively when he suddenly had to visit Marco van Basten. “I hadn’t taken it into account, played all qualifying matches and didn’t lose. I don’t remember anything about the content of the conversation. ”
“Nothing came in, it went in one ear and out the other. Van Basten’s explanation did not interest me at all. ” The former defender booked a holiday the same day and acknowledges that he thought for a moment not to watch any game. “But it is the guys you played with for two years who you want the best. You still let your football heart speak and in the end I did not miss much of the World Cup. I never spoke to Van Basten about that again later, I never even saw him again. ”
Eight of the pre-selected players have yet to drop out. De Boer will give an explanation of his choices at a press conference today at 4 p.m. The 26-man selection will gather in Zeist on Friday and will finish a training there at 5.30 pm, which is open for the press to follow. A training session will follow on Saturday behind closed doors. The the Dutch then leaves for Lagos in Portugal for the second part of the training camp.
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