Maatsen impressed this year after moving on loan from Chelsea to Dortmund. He was named in UEFA’s Champions League team of the season which will give Koeman an extra option on the left flank. The Netherlands, the 1988 European champion, plays Poland in its first Group D match on Sunday in Hamburg before taking on World Cup runner-up France and completing the group stage against Austria.
Koeman announced late Monday that De Jong would not be fit in time to play at the tournament in Germany that begins Friday. Maatsen, who was part of the provisional Netherlands squad, was set to return from vacation to join the team at its base in the German city of Wolfsburg.
Ian Maatsen joins Netherlands squad after De Jong drops out
Borussia Dortmund defender Ian Maatsen has been called up to the The Netherlands, squad as a last-minute replacement for the injured Frenkie de Jong. Head coach Ronald Koeman confirmed after last night’s friendly match against Iceland that De Jong would not recover in time from an ankle injury to play any part in the tournament in Germany.
Maatsen was on holiday in Greece on Monday when he was told to fly back and prepare for the tournament, less than a week before the Dutch take on Poland in Hamburg in their opening match.
Also Read: Euro 2024: Ian Maatsen’s dad drives boots to Germany
Netherlands Euro 2024 Replacements Ian Maatsen Call Up May Suggest Formation Change
Blues star Ian Maatsen has been called up to Euro 2024 as a replacement for De Jong. The 22-year-old had a successful loan spell with Borussia Dortmund during the second half of the season, becoming a key player as they surprisingly made the Champions League final. The full-back played for Burnley during the 2022/23 term and will hope to continue his rise by making his Oranje debut during the tournament.
Maatsen is not a direct replacement for the injured Barcelona star, he plays a completely different position. The 22-year-old does give the Netherlands squad a natural left-back, Centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Nathan Ake filled in at the position during warm-up games against Canada and Iceland.
Dutch Team Replaces Injured Playmaker with Reliable Full-Back Ian Maatsen for Game Changer
Borussia Dortmund defender Ian Maatsen has been called up to the Netherlands squad as a last-minute replacement for injured midfielder Frenkie de Jong. The Chelsea full-back, who spent the last season on loan to Borussia Dortmund, wasted no time and was present for early evening training on Tuesday with the Dutchman preparing for his first international cap. The team arrived at their base in Wolfsburg after beating Iceland 4-0 in their final warm-up friendly in Rotterdam on Monday. Previously, the 22-year-old Maatsen was one of four players to be dropped from Koeman’s 30-man provisional squad when the line-up was finalized two weeks ago
“Ian Maatsen was already in the pre-selection, he is a multi-functional player who has only been out of action for a week. All other options have been gone for three weeks, I don’t know where they all are.
“Within these 25 remaining players, we can go in any direction. We play with three midfielders and we have five. And you can always move someone one spot back or someone from the back one line forward. It will never be an excuse in this tournament, no matter what happens, not to have called up a 26th player,”
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