No question of cancelling game - Dutch coach

AMSTERDAM - There was never any question of calling off Friday’s friendly between the Netherlands and France despite concerns after the Brussels bomb attacks in Belgium, coach Danny Blind said on Wednesday.

No question of cancelling game - Dutch coach

(Reuters)





The Dutch football association (KNVB) contacted security officials but it was decided there was no cause to cancel the match.

“There is naturally always a threat but there is no reason to have to postpone the game,” Blind told a news conference on Wednesday, two days ahead of the match in Amsterdam.

“And there are also no players who have let it be known they don’t want to play,” he added. Belgium’s planned friendly against Portugal has been moved from Brussels to Leiria following the attacks.

Last year a friendly between Germany and the Netherlands in Hanover was called off after a bomb threat, just days after the Paris attacks in November that killed 130 people. Both the Dutch and French teams will wear black armbands during Friday’s match and observe a minute's silence before kick-off in memory of the 34 victims of Tuesday’s attack on Zaventem Airport and a rush-hour metro train in Brussels.

For the Dutch, Friday’s game is a chance to look ahead to the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in September after they missed out on this year's European Championship in France.

“We must use the preparatory matches we play in the coming months to develop the team and to get ready so that we can start our campaign positively,” Blind added.

Asked whether there was any future for discarded players like Robin van Persie and Nigel de Jong, Blind said there was no definitive end to their international careers.

“You can’t predict what will happen. If De Jong comes back to Europe he still has a chance. But his move to America does not help him.”

The 31-year-old De Jong, who has won 80 caps for the Netherlands, has joined LA Galaxy from AC Milan.

The Dutch are due to play England in a friendly on Tuesday.





(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ed Osmond)


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