There is no room for Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek in the Netherlands squad for the World Cup, while one of his compatriots is reportedly enraged by his omission.
Louis van Gaal announced the 26-man squad he will take to Qatar on Friday, with three Premier League players included. Liverpool stalwart Virgil van Dijk will captain the Oranje, while Manchester City defender Nathan Ake and United defender Tyrell Malacia also make the cut.
Malacia will not be joined by Old Trafford teammate Van de Beek, who continues to struggle in a Red Devils shirt and has not scored or assisted in seven appearances this season. Another high-profile absentee from the squad is Jasper Cillessen, who has made 63 appearances for his country and helped Netherlands finish third at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The former Ajax and Barcelona goalkeeper, who plies his trade with Eredivisie side NEC, expected he would be included by Van Gaal, so he was enraged to find out he will be staying at home rather than travelling to the Middle East this winter. That is according to Dutch outlet AD, which claimed Cillessen was informed of the decision early on Friday morning and 'exploded with anger'.
The report notes the veteran 'keeper left Valencia to return to his homeland in the summer in search of the regular football which would boost his chances of being named in the World Cup squad. Cillessen has only played 30 games in a club season once since he left Ajax to join Barca in 2017.
He served as back-up to Marc-Andre ter Stegen at Camp Nou but did add two La Liga titles and two Copas del Rey to a trophy cabinet already containing three Eredivisie titles. After leaving Cillessen out, Van Gaal has selected Feyenoord's Justin Bijlow, Heerenveen's Andries Noppert and Ajax's Remko Pasveer as his three goalkeepers.
Are you surprised to see Jasper Cillessen left out of the Netherlands squad for the Qatar World Cup? Have your say in the comments!
Elsewhere, Bayern Munich's Matthijs de Ligt and Inter Milan's Stefan de Vrij are among the big names in defence and Barcelona duo Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay are included. Van Gaal has also named former Tottenham pair Steven Bergwijn and Vincent Janssen, of Ajax and Antwerp respectively, in his squad.
Netherlands squad in full
Goalkeepers: Justin Bijlow, Andries Noppert, Remko Pasveer.
Defenders: Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Daley Blind, Jurrien Timber, Denzel Dumfries, Stefan de Vrij, Matthijs de Ligt, Tyrell Malacia, Jeremie Frimpong.
Midfielders: Frenkie de Jong, Steven Berghuis, Davy Klaassen, Teun Koopmeiners, Cody Gakpo, Maarten de Roon, Kenneth Taylor, Xavi Simons.
Forwards: Memphis Depay, Steven Bergwijn, Vincent Janssen, Luuk de Jong, Noa Lang, Wout Weghorst.
