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Dutch football coach Louis van Gaal has left out Wesley Sneijder for the friendly against Portugal on Aug 14 in Faro.
“I do not understand all the attention on Sneijder,” Van Gaal said during a press conference on Friday here. “He has not played a competitive match yet this season. His first serious match will be after the Portugal match.”
The absence of the 29-year-old Sneijder was indeed no surprise since he was already ignored in the preliminary squad on July 31.
Compared to the provisional squad, Jordy Clasie, Siem de Jong, Adam Maher, Ricardo van Rhijn, Tonny Trindade de Vilhena and Ricky van Wolfswinkel were left out and PSV midfielders Stijn Schaars and Georginio Wijnaldum returned.
Sneijder was the main topic during the press conference, especially after the Galatasaray midfielder had reacted to his absence in the pre-squad by saying he had expected a phone-call by Van Gaal to explain his absence.
One year ago when Van Gaal started his second term as Dutch national team coach, he appointed Sneijder as his captain. However, Sneijder was not playing at Inter in the first half of last season and was not fit during the second half at his new club Galatasaray.
Ahead of the trip to Indonesia and China in June, Van Gaal decided to drop Sneijder as captain and to name Van Persie as his permanent replacement.
“At first Sneijder has to focus on being fit, after that he has to be in form and after that I have to compare him with others,” Van Gaal stated. “I told him that several times, but it seems he did not get the message.”
“I don’t like players who react in the media,” Van Gaal added. “That’s not good. An experienced player should know what happens next. I talked to him several times, so there was no need to call him. He should have known. He can call me of course.”
Following is the Dutch squad for the Portugal friendly:
Goalkeepers: Jasper Cillessen (Ajax), Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax), Michel Vorm (Swansea City)
Defenders: Daley Blind (Ajax), Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord), Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord), Joris Mathijsen (Feyenoord), Paul Verhaegh (FC Augsburg,), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord)
Midfielders: Marco van Ginkel (Chelsea), Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City), Kevin Strootman (AS Roma), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburger SV), Stijn Schaars, Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV)
Forwards: Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04), Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce), Jeremain Lens (Dynamo Kiev), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), Ruben Schaken (Feyenoord)
