In an interview with NOS, Netherlands national team manager Ronald Koeman explained the reasoning behind Georgionio Wijnaldum, Memphis Depay and Stefan de Vrij’s absences for their EURO 2020 qualifier against Northern Ireland.
“I made the decision to protect Depay, Tuesday against Estonia it will be easier for him. Gini has already played badly last weekend and also suffered a double blow earlier this week. He hasn’t fully trained yet. And neither has Stefan who is not 100%.”
The exclusion has caused controversy after Sport Mediaset journalist Marco Barzaghi had suggested that the 27-year-old central defender was fit and healthy. de Vrij has failed to appear for the national team for all of 2019, last playing for the team over a year ago in a friendly against Belgium.
de Vrij has made 14 appearances for Inter so far this season, with his performances showing him off as one of the best defenders in the league.
