‘Goes fast with Hartman and Wieffer’ – Luuk de Jong decision surprises Koeman

Bart Verbruggen is the big unknown in the Dutch national team’s pre-selection. For many a surprise, for Belgians not.

Verbruggen is a sensation under the crossbar at Anderlecht. Who is this 20-year-old goalkeeper?

Read more about the young goalkeeper in the story below:

Paris Saint-Germain without Brazilian Neymar against Bayern Munich

Paris Saint-Germain will not be able to have Neymar in Wednesday’s away match against Bayern Munich in the Champions League eighth finals. The Brazilian playmaker is not fit in time, coach Christophe Galtier said Friday.

Neymar suffered an ankle injury just under two weeks ago, in the early stages of the second half of the home game against Lille (4-3), and did not return to action after that.

Paris Saint-Germain must overcome a 1-0 defeat from the first meeting with Bayern in Germany.

Arsenal attacker Jesus on the way back from knee injury

Leaders Arsenal hope to have striker Gabriel Jesus back at their disposal in the foreseeable future. The Brazilian is on his way back from the knee injury he suffered during the World Cup in Qatar.

Jesus, who underwent surgery in December, can already rejoin some parts of selection training. “He’s not close, but he’s not far away either. The doctors are confident in how the recovery is going,” coach Mikel Arteta stated a day before the league game with Bournemouth.

The Spanish coach did warn that Jesus would not simply regain his place in the starting lineup when he is fit again. “He was phenomenal before his injury. But soon he will have to earn his place in the team again, just like all the other players.”

sus has accounted for five goals and five assists since his switch from Manchester City last summer. Partly because of his production, Arsenal climbed to first place in the Premier League before the World Cup break.

Another setback for Mauro Junior

It’s not the season for PSV left back Mauro Junior. Via social media, word is coming out that the Brazilian was injured again at training Friday afternoon.

Mauro Junior already missed the first half of the season due to a groin injury and also suffered a shoulder injury at the start of 2023.

Only just recovered from that shoulder, the footballer incurred a red card at the end of January in the league match against FC Emmen, which cost him two games of suspension.

Then in February, except for the match against Feyenoord, he participated in all of PSV’s matches, but the footballer is now hit by calamity again.

Van Nistelrooij: ‘Luuk took the whole picture’

Ruud van Nistelrooij is fine with striker Luuk de Jong’s decision to no longer make himself available for the Dutch national team.

“I have spoken to him about that. The most important thing is that he himself explains why he makes that choice, as he has actually already done in a statement. When you hear his rationale, you can only respect and accept it,” spoke the PSV coach

The 32-year-old De Jong made 39 appearances for the Oranje and wants to focus fully on PSV from now on. Van Nistelrooij: “It’s about him doing what is most important for him. How it feels for him at this moment in his career. A smart boy like Luuk has taken the whole picture and thought about it.”

With PSV, Van Nistelrooij and De Jong take on RKC Waalwijk in the league on Sunday. In September, PSV won the home game very painstakingly, with a penalty kick by Cody Gakpo utilized in injury time of the second half. “It has to splash off in Waalwijk on Sunday,” Van Nistelrooij spoke. “RKC has a lot of experience and good players on board.”

Van Nistelrooij hopes Guus Til will be part of his matchday squad against RKC. The midfielder dropped out with an ankle injury in Thursday’s 3-1 win against ADO Den Haag in the cup. “We will hear later what that looks like,” said the coach, who is missing goalkeeper Walter Benítez and striker Thorgan Hazard with injuries. Xavi Simons, however, is deployable. The top scorer remained on the bench against ADO as a precaution. “He had been a little sick and had some minor complaints. This was the moment to keep him out for a while.”

Against ADO, Van Nistelrooij enjoyed the goal by midfielder Ibrahim Sangaré, who shot hard from distance. “A world goal,” Van Nistelrooij spoke. “I sometimes say at training sessions that he should shoot more often. Now he tries more often, also in matches.”

Slot: ‘Being fit is also in the head’

Feyenoord are still battling on three fronts (premier league, KNVB cup tournament and Europa League). Coach Arne Slot realizes that this demands quite a lot from his selection and injury is lurking.

“I try to keep training time to a minimum,” Slot says. “But the fatigue is also much a part in the head. After all, you can have a lot when things are going well, while you can have less when things are not going as well.”

“By playing a lot of games, you can also get extremely fit, because the players get used to it.”

Next Saturday, Feyenoord plays the home game against FC Groningen (kickoff 8 p.m.).

Slot still little wiser about Bijlow’s recovery

Arne Slot does not yet know when Justin Bijlow will make his comeback. The goalkeeper has had a broken left wrist since early February, but has been training occasionally, according to Slot.

“He sometimes joins in the positional play during training, but mainly as a handball player. His recovery is going well, but as long as he can’t put on his goalkeeper gloves, I don’t know how long his recovery will last.”

Lock: ‘Going fast with Wieffer and Hartman’

Feyenoord coach Arne Slot is proud that three of his players have made the preliminary selection for the Dutch national team.

Lutsharel Geertruida’s selection may not have come completely out of the blue, but the selection of Quilindschy Hartman and Mats Wieffer was no a-b-c’t.

“It goes fast with them, also because they haven’t played too many games in the first yet,” Slot believes about the choice of Wieffer and Hartman. “But the pre-selection consists of quite a lot of players, so you have to make that nuance. But it’s fantastic for Feyenoord.”

“Last year we had Tyrell Malacia, Guus Til and Justin Bijlow in the Oranje selection. Of those, two left and one is injured. So to have three men in the selection again now is quite nice.”

Jans removes Brenet from FC Twente selection

FC Twente cannot have Joshua Brenet in Saturday’s home match against sc Heerenveen in the Eredivisie. The defender has been suspended until Monday by coach Ron Jans, a spokesman for the Enschede-based soccer club confirmed in response to reports by Tubantia.

Jans takes that decision because he believes Brenet did not react well Sunday when he was substituted after more than an hour of play in the 3-1 lost away match against PSV.

The coach was quite critical of his players afterwards. “Especially on the right side we suffered a lot of ball loss. Defensively it was also too sloppy and some players took it too easily,” he spoke. Brenet plays at right back.

Jans went on to say, “As a coach, at some point you can choose players who are more task-conscious. Others can also take a chance.”

Brenet expressed praise for his position at FC Twente just last week, where he said he has found the joy in soccer again. “A gift from heaven,” as he called the same.

FC Twente competed for the top spots in the premier league for a long time, but has lost the connection after a lesser run. Leaders Feyenoord now have 12 more points.

Liverpool coach Klopp praises ‘results machine’ Manchester United

Jürgen Klopp complimented the revived Manchester United on Friday. “They have become a results machine,” the Liverpool coach said ahead of next Sunday’s meeting with coach Erik ten Hag’s United. “They play top soccer and when things are down for once, they still manage to squeeze out a good result.”

Liverpool has fallen way back after several strong years. The club is in sixth place with 39 points after 24 rounds of play. Manchester United occupies the third spot and has 10 points more than Liverpool.

Klopp: “It is clear that this Manchester United team is not built for the next 20 years. They got players to perform now. They are really very good.”

Ten Hag won the League Cup with Manchester United and is also still in the race in the Europa League and the FA Cup. In the Premier League, they are 11 points behind leaders Arsenal, which played one more game.

Klopp indicated that he does not consider Manchester United hopeless for the title. The Liverpool coach particularly enjoys the revived striker Marcus Rashford. “It is almost not allowed as a Liverpool coach to say anything positive about Manchester United, but I am very happy for Rashford,” Klopp said.

“He is playing incredibly well. His speed, his technique: it’s a mix of everything. We will have to defend as a collective. Rashford is not the only world-class player at Manchester.”

Hartman, Vergbruggen and Wieffer in preliminary squad

Feyenoorders Lutsharel Geertruida, Quilindschy Hartman and Mats Wieffer and Anderlecht goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen have been included by national coach Ronald Koeman in the preliminary selection of the Dutch national team. They were not previously part of the preliminary squad.

Other notable names include Georginio Wijnaldum, Joey Veerman, Kjell Scherpen, Brian Brobbey and Kenny Tete. 86-time international Wijnaldum missed the past World Cup in Qatar because of a leg fracture he suffered during training at his club AS Roma.

“The provisional list has 37 names; that’s more than usual. I deliberately chose a larger group because we are currently dealing with a number of question marks in terms of match rhythm and fitness,” Koeman explained his selection.

The Dutch will play two European Championship qualifiers this month: on March 24 in Paris against France and on March 27 in Rotterdam against Gibraltar.

Prosecutor demands two years in prison against Promes, verdict in two weeks

The prosecution has demanded two years in prison against professional footballer Quincy Promes. According to the prosecution, the 50-time international is guilty of aggravated assault on a cousin, at a family party in 2020.

However, attempted murder or manslaughter, for which Promes was also charged, cannot be proven, according to the prosecution. The verdict is likely to follow in two weeks.

The victim was stabbed in his knee at the end of the party in Abcoude, rupturing a tendon. The 31-year-old Promes, who is now playing soccer in Russia and will not attend the trial in Amsterdam, denies being the perpetrator.

The prosecution, however, is convinced of his guilt. In the courtroom, the prosecutor pointed to, among other things, apps and tapped phone calls shortly after the incident, in which Promes allegedly admitted to stabbing his cousin.

‘Decision Luuk took me by surprise, we’re going to miss him’

Ronald Koeman had not seen the decision of Luuk de Jong, who has decided to quit as an international, coming.

“I was somewhat surprised when Luuk called me yesterday with the news that he was no longer available for the Dutch national team,” Koeman said. “But I understand his explanation that he wants to concentrate 100 percent on PSV. We are going to miss him. Both on and off the field.”

For 39-time international De Jong (eight goals), he says this feels like the right time to quit. “It was always an honor for me to be part of the Dutch national team,” he said.

“But for me this now feels like the right time to make this decision, because the Netherlands is starting a new qualifying series for the European Championship this month. I want to be able to fully focus on PSV in the coming years.”

‘No time to grieve’ at FC Utrecht

FC Utrecht is still full of chagrin from this week’s cup defeat against the Spakenburg amateurs.

But the team wants to move on, because even through the league the club can still force European soccer. Tonight Fortuna Sittard awaits in the premier league.

That it has to be better than against Spakenburg, Utrecht coach Michael Silberbauer also knows. “There is still enough to play for this season. It’s unfortunate that we can’t make it through the cup, but we can still get European soccer through the league. There is no time to grieve for long.”

Standings and program 24th playing round premier league

For the first time this season, two premier league matches will be played on Friday night, and not the least of clubs will soon be in action.

Title contender AZ faces the tough away game at Vitesse, which suffered a narrow defeat against Ajax last week after taking a lead.

FC Utrecht hopes to take revenge in the Galgenwaard for last Tuesday’s disgraceful cup elimination against Spakenburg. Fortuna Sittard is the Domstadelingen’ opponent.

Both matches can of course be followed via our liveblog tonight.