The Olympic selection of the Orange Men is known. National coach Jeroen Delmée has made a place in his selection of sixteen players for HGC veteran Seve van Ass, who was passed over at the European Championships in the summer . Amsterdammer Floris Middendorp, who attended the European Championship as a substitute , is also one of the sixteen men who will be there in Paris.
Terrance Pieters, with 56 appearances the player with the most international matches under Delmée, is the most noticeable absentee from the selection. The Kampong striker experienced the golden European Championship in Mönchengladbach and the bronze World Cup in India. He is the only player who played both of these major tournaments, but now stays at home. Pieters suffered a torn inner tube in his knee in March , but trained fully with the Dutch team again this week.
Tijmen Reyenga (Orange-Red) and Steijn van Heijningen (Rotterdam) were also present at the European Championships and World Cup. They will go to France, but have been designated as reserve players. Both players were injured during the second half of the season. As a result, Van Heijningen even missed the play-off final with his club.
Derk Meijer is the surprising reserve goalie. Rotterdam’s goalkeeper was always behind Maurits Visser in the pecking order. The goalkeeper who was first choice at the European Championship, also due to the absence of Pirmin Blaak, must now stay at home. Teun Beins (Bloemendaal), Jasper Brinkman (Bloemendaal), Max de Bie (Oranje-Rood) and Guus Jansen (Rotterdam) have also not been called up.
Beins is the most experienced of this quartet with 46 international matches and a World Cup participation. He will continue to play together with Pieters and the Olympic reserves in the Oranje’s four Pro League matches, next week against Germany and Belgium. Visser will also train until departure, but will not participate in the four upcoming competitions.
Third Olympic Games for Van Ass and Croon
Then the players who are there. The 32-year-old Van Ass, who is competing for his third Games. The technical midfielder was also present in Rio de Janeiro (2016) and Tokyo (2021). This also applies to Jorrit Croon, still only 25 years old. Pirmin Blaak, Jonas de Geus, Thijs van Dam, Joep de Mol, Thierry Brinkman, Lars Balk, Justen Blok and Jip Janssen are on the eve of their second Olympic participation. This means that the Dutch team has six debutants at the Paris Games: Koen Bijen, Duco Telgenkamp, Derck de Vilder, Floris Wortelboer, Tjep Hoedemakers and Middendorp.
“It was a week for me in which I had to make the most difficult decisions of the past three years,” Delmée said in a press release from the KNHB. ‘Guys with whom I have worked intensively in recent times are now unfortunately left out. That is part of top sport and my job as a national coach. We think this selection gives us the best chance of Olympic success.’
by Hockey.nl
