Netherlands:

National coach Jeroen Delmée has announced his first dropouts for the European Championships in Mönchengladbach. The injured Miles Bukkens will definitely not return to the tournament in Germany. The same goes for Joep Troost, Max de Bie and Timo Boers. Jonas de Geus and David Huussen did not play in the Pro League in recent weeks, but are part of the 25-man training group.

Bukkens was injured during warm-up two weeks ago on the first summer Pro League day. In the process, the eight-time international sustained damage to the inner ligament of his knee. His rehabilitation time was estimated at 10 to 12 weeks. The Pinoké striker immediately realized it would be a race against time to make it to the EC.

‘That was of course a huge setback for him,’ Delmée admitted in a press release from the KNHB. ‘He is not yet fit, which means we cannot use him in the preparation for the EC. For Timo, Max and Joep, we have to thin out the selection considerably, because ultimately we can only enter sixteen field players and two goalkeepers for the EC.’

Jonas de Geus in the Olympic final between the Netherlands and Germany. Photo: Willem Vernes

Huussen and De Geus

Boers played only one of eight Pro League games this month. Troost and De Bie both made three appearances. With his 21 international matches, OR midfielder De Bie is the most experienced international of this trio. Like Troost and Boers, he has not yet played a final tournament with the big Oranje.

Opposite the names dropped is the return of Huussen, who did not play during the Pro League. After the championship with his club Amsterdam, the midfielder was rested to avoid overexertion. Delmée already indicated before the Pro League matches in his own country that he would like him to be there in preparation for the European Championship. Olympic champion De Geus – ailing with knee problems – was also not fit enough to play in the past international games, but trained with the group. He will continue to do so.

The Dutch won the Pro League title Sunday because Australia spilled points as the last remaining competitor. Delmée’s team will soon defend the title in Mönchengladbach, which they captured two years ago. In the week of July 21, the Brabander will announce the final selection for the European Championship, which runs from Aug. 8 to 17.

Training group Oranje towards the European Championship