Just before the FIFA World Cup, the Netherlands team has suffered a major setback. The team’s star defender Jurien Timbers has been ruled out of the entire tournament due to a groin injury. Coach Ronald Koeman has included Lutsharel Geertruida in his place in the team.
Even before the start of FIFA World Cup 2026, Netherlands has received a bad news. The team’s important defender Jurien Timbers has been ruled out of the tournament due to a groin injury. The Dutch Football Federation gave this information on Monday. According to ESPN, 24-year-old Timber plays for the Arsenal club. He recently played the UEFA Champions League final for Arsenal against Paris Saint-Germain, in which he came on the field as a substitute. Now he will leave the Dutch camp and return after the team’s last World Cup warm-up match against Uzbekistan.
“The 24-year-old defender has not fully recovered from his groin injury, so it would not be medically appropriate to play him in the World Cup,” the Dutch Federation said in a statement. “After consultation with the medical staff, it has been decided that Timbers will leave the national team camp following the match against Uzbekistan in New York,” the statement added.
Geertruida was called as replacement
Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman has included Sunderland defender Lutsharel Geertruida in the squad in place of Timber. “For the last few days we were feeling that perhaps this decision would have to be taken. Finally, we spoke to Jurien last night and this morning and unfortunately we had to take this decision,” Koeman told Dutch broadcaster NOS.
“With Jurien we had eight defenders, without him we have seven, which is not enough. So you have to take a decision. Geertruida was with the team until the match against Algeria, so it would not be too difficult to bring him back. We did not wait any longer because his condition was not expected to improve quickly,” Koeman added.
What did Koeman say on Timber’s fitness?
Timber played for Arsenal in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain for almost an hour, including extra time, after which the match went to penalties. However, Koeman refused to blame the Premier League club for the player’s condition.
“You can’t blame the club, and I don’t want to. But it’s clear that those minutes didn’t help,” he said. The Dutch coach concluded, “If he had to play just one more match in the near future, maybe it would have been possible. But playing a big tournament was not possible. He has not been fit for a long time and still has symptoms that are not healing quickly, which means he will not be match fit any time soon.”
Netherlands’ World Cup campaign
The Netherlands will open their World Cup campaign against Japan on June 14. After this the team will face Sweden and Tunisia in the group stage. (ANI)