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Where many football fans are still talking about the heated topper between Ajax and PSV, the focus is almost on the World Cup in Qatar. Only thirteen more nights of sleep and then the World Cup starts in the Gulf state. What does the road of the Dutch national team to the most discussed final tournament look like?
The World Cup starts on November 20 with the opening match between the home country and Ecuador, a day later the Dutch national team will play against Senegal.
Final selection
Friday 11 November is an important date in the run-up to the World Cup. Then national coach Louis van Gaal announces which players are definitively part of the selection.
The elector still has a number of hard nuts to crack. For example, can 19-year-old Xavi Simons count on an invitation from Van Gaal and which keepers will go to Qatar?
The provisional squad of Orange has 39 players and Van Gaal is allowed to bring a maximum of 26 players to Qatar. So 13 players will be eliminated.
A national coach may only call up a replacement in the event of an injury or illness. This must be done at least one day before the country’s first World Cup match and this replacement does not have to have been in the pre-selection.
View the preliminary selection of the Dutch national team here:
NOS
Preselection Orange NOS
Preselection Orange
In the Eredivisie, one full round of play is completed before the World Cup starts. The Orange internationals of PSV play another top match against AZ, Ajax visits FC Emmen and Feyenoord receives fellow townsman Excelsior at home.
The Amsterdammers and Rotterdammers also play a make-up match in midweek; Ajax at home against Vitesse and Feyenoord in the Kuip against Cambuur.
Short preparation time
Van Gaal then has a week to optimally prepare his players for the World Cup. The selector has already used the last matches in the Nations League to experiment with certain players. Marten de Roon and Vincent Janssen played against Belgium (1-0) for the injured Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay.
On Monday, November 14, the players will gather in Zeist, where their last training is on Dutch soil.
A day later, around noon, the players and coaches board the plane to Qatar, where the Orange squad has immediately planned a run-out training on arrival. The following days, the players are logically several times on the training field.
The Dutch national team will stay in the St. Regis Hotel in Doha for the entire tournament. Reporter Jeroen Stekelenburg made this report about this earlier this year:
These are the training complex and hotel of Orange during the World Cup
The Dutch national team will play its first group match against Senegal on Monday 21 November in the Al Thumama Stadium. Four days later Ecuador is the opponent and on November 29 the Orange will meet host country Qatar.
All matches in the Netherlands can be followed live on NPO1, on NPO Radio 1 in Along the line and via NOS.nl.
