Defender Van den Berg misses EC under 21 due to muscle injury, Sambo replacement
NOS Football–
Sepp van den Berg will have to miss out on the European Under-21 Championship. The Liverpool central defender, who played on a rental basis for Schalke 04 last year, suffered a muscle injury in training on Friday.
Van den Berg has since left the training camp in Austria. National coach Erwin van de Looi has called up Shurandy Sambo (leased by PSV to Sparta last season) as a replacement.
For Jong Oranje, the dropping of Van den Berg just before the European Championships in Romania and Georgia is a big loss. In the practice game with Japan last Wednesday, he was still the defensive center of the team alongside Micky van de Ven.
With Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton & Hove Albion), Van de Looi has another central defender in his selection.
Sambo in the spotlight
Substitute Sambo is a right wing defender and had an excellent season with Sparta, which rented him from PSV. In the final of the playoffs for European soccer against FC Twente, a brilliant defensive move by him even went viral for a while on social media.
In principle, Sambo will return to PSV after the summer, but several clubs have already inquired about his services. For example, new Ajax coach Maurice Steijn would also like to take him to Amsterdam.
Sambo has so far played once before for Jong Oranje. He made his debut on March 25, 2023 against Norway (3-0 win).
Next Wednesday, the European Championship begins for the Young Oranje in the Georgian capital Tbilisi against Young Belgium. At the previous edition in 2021, the Young Orange reached the semifinals.
Twice, the Dutch Junior Team clinched the European title: in 2006 in Portugal and in 2007 at home. Both times Foppe de Haan was the national coach.
