Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder was recently left out of the squad that will be playing against Portugal in a friendly match. Manager Louis van Gaal has backed his decision by saying that the player has not been in top notch shape in the last few months. Sneijder recently completed the move to Galatasaray after falling out with Inter Milan. The former Real Madrid and Inter Milan midfielder is regarded as one of the finest in the Dutch squad. He has numerous trophies including the Champions league in 2010 to back up these statistics.
Yet, he was not out of the team that was announced by van Gaal recently. The Dutch will be playing against Portugal in friendly match ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in September. Estonia and Andorra will be the opponents during the World Cup qualifiers and they should not pose too much of a problem for the 2010 World Cup finalists. Netherlands are very close to sealing their spot at the 2014 World Cup. After having played in six matches in the group, they are top with 18 points on board. They are seven points ahead of second placed Hungary.
Van Gaal has said that Sneijder is not out of the picture completely and there is still chance for him to get back into the national team squad.
“What I want is for Sneijder to be fit and regain his form again. That must be his primary goal. But at the moment, I have the impression that he doesn’t understand. He spoke to reporters last week, indicating that he was disappointed that I did not tell him myself that he lost his place in the squad. But of all of the players, I talked to him the most and he should not have done that,” said Van Gaal.