Sports Desk, Jun 11 (EFE).- Barcelona’s Dutch midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, will miss the European Championship in after failing to recover in time from ankle problems that have prevented him from playing since the end of April.
Although he was initially expected to be ready to play during the group stage, medical tests carried out at the weekend showed that the ankle was not yet strong enough to play in the continental tournament, the Dutch Football Federation said in a statement.
“He won’t be fit enough to play at this level for the next three weeks. There’s no point keeping him with us,” Dutch coach Roland Koeman said after the team’s 4-0 friendly match win over Iceland in Rotterdam on Monday.
De Jong watched the game from the bench.
“I’m sad and disappointed that I won’t make it to the EC,” De Jong said later in an Instagram post.
“We’ve been doing a lot of it the past few weeks, but my ankle needs more time unfortunately.”
“It’s a dream and greatest honor to represent our country in a final tournament…But now I will, like the entire orange legion, cheer for our team from the sidelines,” said De Jong, capped 54 times by the Netherlands.
De Jong has not played since suffering an injury to his right ankle in Barcelona’s 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid on Apr. 21.
Koeman said he would decide later whether a replacement for De Jong would be called in or not.
Europe’s biggest football event, Euro 2024, begins in on June 15.
The 1988 champions, the Netherlands, are in Group D alongside , Poland, and Austria. EFE
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