Vicent Janssen appears as a replacement for Memphis Depay in the Netherlands team because the Barça player, despite recovering from his muscle injury, will not start on Sunday against Senegal in the debut of the ‘oranje’ at the World Cup from Qatar.
Janssen, one of the surprises in Louis van Gaal’s squad alongside Xavi Simmons, could replace Depay, who continues to recover from a hamstring injury that has prevented him from playing for Barcelona for the last two months. The Dutch coach chose to call up Memphis and recently admitted that he will miss the match against Senegal and that Janssen will be his replacement.
This Saturday the Antwerp player enjoyed the option of playing in his team’s first World Cup match. “I didn’t see Van Gaal’s press conference because I was training or eating in Antwerp, I don’t remember. Later I found out because people told me. It’s nice when the coach says that. Let’s see”, he said in specifying the day the technician announced his call.
A long absence from the team
Janssen returned to the national team with Van Gaal after a spell. In 2017 he participated in the match against Sweden, Arjen Robben’s last as an international and went to Tottenham without success. Later he bet in the Mexican Monterrey and for five years he did not go to the national team.
Five months ago, in June, he played his first minute with the Netherlands in the Nations League after a long absence in a clash against Wales. Later he repeated the match in Poland and Belgium and, finally, he entered the list for the World Cup in Qatar.
He will see them with Koulibaly
If he starts, he will have to face a powerful central defender like Kalidou Koulibaly: “Recently I have often faced good defenders. That is part of football, especially in a World Cup, where the best in the world are .”
He also spoke about the contrast between the choice he left in 2017 and the present. In his previous stint in the Netherlands he had a bad time after failing to qualify for the 2016 Euro Cup and the 2018 World Cup. Today, the situation is different.
“The contrast is great. At that time, there was a lot of negativity in the team. Now there is a lot of positivity. We know what we want to achieve together. The fact that there is pressure, is not important to us,” Janssen emphasized.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
