Sven Botman feels he must continue to put Newcastle United first if he has any chance of making the cut for the Netherlands' World Cup squad for Qatar next month.
In a dramatic turnaround, Botman, who walked away from the Under-21s to focus on United last month, made Louis Van Gaal's 39-man provisional list for the tournament. Van Gaal is a stubborn character but he's also not naïve enough to discount Botman after the 22-year-old helped lift Newcastle into the Champions League places in the Premier League.
The Magpies' rise up the table has not gone unnoticed in Holland and Dutch journalists have been assigned to Newcastle games to cover Botman's story. If a squad is picked on current form, Botman should have a reasonable chance of being on the plane alongside stars Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries and Frenkie De Jong.
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After the 2-1 win after Spurs at the weekend, Botman said: "It's still my dream to get into the final selection. But I am just focusing on every game I play now for Newcastle and then we will see what happens.
"I have not spoken to the manager (Van Gaal). Nothing. It's the second time I have been called up. I am just doing my best and want to prove that I belong to the squad and waiting to see what he does."
Botman has already spent his career proving people wrong. He left Ajax after not getting a chance in the first-team to join Lille. It was at that time former Netherlands and Barcelona player Ibrahim Afellay described Botman as "offensively not good enough" in the Dutch Press.
The quote was read back to him after he'd inflicted defeat on to Harry Kane and Son Heung-min on Sunday, Botman said: "My response to him? I don't have a response to him. Anybody can have a word these days so I let my feet speak on the pitch and prove people wrong.
"It was a great result for us, to come here and get three points is a big deal. Not a lot of people were expecting that but we are in really good form and we showed good quality.
"It was a good day for us. But it's still early in the season but our goals were clear this season and we are fighting for every point. "Spurs was a big three points but now we move on to the next one."
For all the talk about Botman bringing the ball out of defence in his home country, it has been his defensive grit and steel that has impressed the Geordie fans. Botman is yet to lose and the team have conceded just seven goals when he's been in it for his 11 matches so far.
The Dutch defender said: "It's not easy. It's hard work but the whole team is responsible. I am really enjoying playing against these type of strikers. It helps me grow and get better and be the complete defender.
"It's why I chose Newcastle, for the whole project, but also the league they play in. With all the star strikers it is a big challenge and I am enjoying it."
After the game, striker Callum Wilson spoke about a video session that helped result in the first goal after the Magpies drew Hugo Lloris off his line. Botman helped restrict Son and Kane to efforts from outside the box and then even after Kane breached the defence, United held on to their lead.
The ex-Ajax youngster added: "We watched clips. We knew with Son and Kane, one is chopping in, and the other is running in behind. They do very well and are dangerous in the type of situation we faced - on the counter. "But we did very well and a good job."
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