Netherlands: Delmée: ‘Maurits Visser beoogde eerste keeper op het EK’

‘The little one from Pirmin is expected in mid-August,’ says Delmée. ‘He would like to be present at the birth of his child. As a father of three children, I understand that very well. In addition, we as staff do not want to create a restless situation during the tournament. All in all, this is a decision that you make in mutual consultation. You need maximum focus at the European Championships. It has become a realistic scenario that Pirmin cannot keep there. As a team we have to prepare for that. That is why we now focus on Maurits as the first goalkeeper during the tournament.’

There is still a chance that Blaak, who does not want to respond to the situation, will come along as a reserve goalkeeper. ‘That depends on his home situation,’ says Delmée. ‘The competition between Pirmin and Maurits was open again after the World Cup. In any case, it was our goal to have both boys play the same amount during the Pro League games in the summer. Pirmin kept everything in Eindhoven, in London they both played one and now it’s Maurits’s turn in Amsterdam.’

No Croon, but Janssen again

Visser can therefore show himself to the home crowd in the Wagener. The goalkeeper of Bloemendaal, good for nineteen caps, will play twice against Germany and New Zealand with the Netherlands in the coming days. The Orange will be in action on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. In addition to Blaak, Seve van Ass (hamstring), Jorrit Croon (wrist) and Tijmen Reyenga (knee) are also missing. They are still struggling with the injuries that also kept them aside last week. Van Ass and Reyenga are expected on the training field soon. ‘I’m not too worried about Jorrit in the run-up to the European Championship,’ says Delmée. “His injury is not so persistent that this becomes a problem. Moreover, he is naturally very fit, so that he can get back on his feet quickly.’

Jip Janssen just returns to Orange. Kampong’s corner specialist suffered an injury to his finger. His last international match was five months ago, in the World Cup bronze medal against Australia.

The 22-man squad