Coach Ronald Koeman announced that defender Matthijs de Ligt, who was injured at Euro 2024, will be given another opportunity with the Netherlands national team when they play Bosnia & Herzegovina in the Nations League.
Stefan de Vrij was left out of the squad, so the new Manchester United signing, who did not play during the tournament in Germany in June and July, is expected to start alongside Virgil van Dijk in central defence.
With this news, Coach Koeman stated in a press conference: “When Matthijs called me about the possible move he could make to Manchester United, we also talked about the European Championship.”
He added: “I didn’t give Matthijs the nicest message in the run-up to the European Championship, I chose Stefan de Vrij. Now it’s Matthijs’ turn to show it because there are others who can play in that position. It is clear that I would like to see Matthijs reach the level he had before.”
Having made his Dutch debut in 2017, De Ligt, now 25 years old, has won 45 caps for his nation, most of them during Koeman’s first stint as head coach of the national team from early 2018 to late 2019. However, due to a difficult club career at Bayern Munich, De Ligt has only played in five international matches since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Source: CNA