6 days Ago
Frenkie de Jong made his first Netherlands appearance for 14 months on Saturday as he featured in a 4-0 win over Hungary. The Barcelona midfielder put in a good shift for the Oranje and admitted afterwards he’s happy to be back playing for the national team once again. “It’s been a long time.
I was really looking forward to this. Playing for the Dutch national team is a great honour. If you can’t be there for a while, you miss it.
The longer it takes, the more you look forward to it,” he told reporters. “I just have to play matches and train. Then I will hopefully get fitter and feel better.
Then the form will come back automatically. “Normally I had the feeling of returning to my level quite quickly after an injury. That is different now.
It is still sensitive at times, I also have to regain the confidence that I can do certain things. That only comes with playing matches, hopefully the pain will go away by itself.” De Jong also admitted he does not expect to start the team’s next game against Bosnia and Herzegovina but is hoping to stay with the squad.
“I definitely won’t start the next match, but if all goes well, I’ll just stay. No, I think my ankle’s reaction tomorrow won’t be too bad,” he added. Ronald Koeman’s side are due to play on Tuesday in Zenica, with De Jong likely to be part of the squad before returning to Barcelona.
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