Next week will see the first international break of the calendar year, and the first this campaign since November, and on Friday morning plenty of nations around the world announce their squads for the upcoming games this month.
Most countries in Europe will be starting their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaigns, apart from the eight that qualified for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Nations League. The quarters will be a two-legged match up with the first legs taking place on Thursday 20th March, and the second being played on Sunday 23rd March. One of these nations is the Netherlands, who reached the semi-finals of the European Championships last summer in Germany, before being eventually eliminated by England. Manager Ronald Koeman revealed the squad, and it probably didn't come as a surprise when Spurs defender Micky van de Ven was nowhere to be seen.
Understandably, the 23-year-old defender will most likely be disappointed, as it is always an honour to pull on your national teams shirt, but it definitely seems the right call, with the player missing plenty of games due to injury this season, so now is the time for van de Ven to get some much needed rest before Spurs are in action in a huge London derby against Chelsea, which takes place on Thursday 3rd April.
Looking at the reaction on social media, Spurs fans were absolutely delighted with Koeman's decision to leave out their man, wrapping him up in cotton wool ready for much more important fixtures in the business end of the season, as Spurs continue to try and climb the table and progress as far as they can in the UEFA Europa League, as it will be their only chance at major silverware for the first time since 2008.
Van de Ven debuted for the 'Oranje' in October of 2023, coming on as a substitue for fellow Premier League defender Nathan Ake, playing the last ten minutes in a Euro 2024 qualifier to current world runners-up France, which unfortunately ended in defeat for the Netherlands. The defender has never really been a regular starter for the side, as he featured in none of Koeman's starting elevens in the recent European Championship, so that's something that he will want to try and rectify, and missing these games coming up right now won't help that, but thinking ahead for all parties it is 100% the correct decision, and if he gets over these injuries then his performances should speak for themselves, leaving whoever is in charge of the Dutch national team to pick him no matter what!