Netherlands coach Frank de Boer announced today, Wednesday, his final squad of 26 players for the European Football Championship next month, and he excluded 8 players from the initial list that he announced at the beginning of this month, amid his suffering from the absence of team captain Virgil van Dyck due to injury.

Among the excluded striker Stephen Bergvin (23 years), who paid dearly for not participating much with Tottenham in recent months in the Premier League, and de Boer chose instead, Eindhoven striker Cody Jacobo, who did not participate in any international matches on the list of his attackers.

"As a coach I do not consider this difficult, but on a human level it is always difficult," de Boer said of excluding players from the tournament.

Veteran goalkeeper Martin Steckelenberg, who participated in the 2010 World Cup but returned to the league matches only recently with Ajax Amsterdam after years as a reserve at Everton, was chosen at the expense of Alkmaar's goalkeeper Marco Bizot.

Steckelenberg, 38, will be one of the oldest players in the tournament.

The other players who were excluded from the list are Anwar Al-Ghazi, Hans Hatepor, Rick Karsdorp, Jeremiah Saint-Just, Kenny Tite and Tony Vilhina, after the Dutch national team concluded a mini-training camp on Wednesday.

De Boer confirmed that he had contacted every player who had ruled them out before the list was announced on Wednesday.

"You want to convey the bad news in a polite way as possible, so I talked to the excluded players and it was short conversations. Maybe they wanted to shout or hang up, so the calls were short," he added.

De Boer kept the 19-year-old Ajax defender Jorim Timber, who made a strong impression in the second half of the Dutch league season, but has not yet participated in any international matches.

Daly Blind, who suffered a serious ankle injury in March, also joined the squad as he continued his return to full fitness.

The Dutch national team should play the tournament without captain Virgil van Dyck, who said earlier this month that he would not try to return from injury in the European Championship 2020, but would focus instead on recovering completely before the start of next season with Liverpool in the English Premier League. .

Wow and some people go still say this guy na over hyped defender, person wey sense wan kill, well for me only Nemanja Vidic and Sergio Ramos can best Virgil Van Dijk… That's my own take pic.twitter.com/vINuQ2PMSW

- Celeb (@SAigbokhaode) May 20, 2021

The squad gathers the day after tomorrow, Friday, before a week-long training camp in Portugal, where the Netherlands will play a friendly match against Scotland on the second of next June.

The Dutch national team plays a second friendly match against Georgia on the sixth of next June.

The Netherlands will begin its Group C campaign in the European Championship against Ukraine in Amsterdam on June 13th.

The lineup was as follows:

Goalkeepers: Jesper Silesen (Valencia), Tim Kroll (Norwich City) and Martin Steckelenberg (Ajax).

Defenders: Nathan Aki (Manchester City), Dali Blend (Ajax Amsterdam), Mattis de Ligt (Juventus), Stefan de Vrie (Inter Milan), Denzel Dumfries (Eindhoven), Eurim Timber (Ajax Amsterdam), Patrick Van Anholt (Crystal Palace), Yoel Veltman (Brighton & Hof Albion) and Auven Vindal (Alkmaar).

Midfielders: Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Martin de Ron (Atlanta), Ryan Gravenbirch, Daffy Clasen (Ajax), Tun Copmeners (Alkmaar), Donnie Van de Beek (Manchester United) and Georgenio Wijnaldum (Liverpool).

Forwards: Stephen Berghaus (Feyenoord), Luc de Young (Seville), Memphis Depay (Olympic Lyon), Cody Jacobo, Donnell Malen (Eindhoven), Quincy Promise (Spartak Moscow) and Fout Veghurst (Wolfsburg).