National coach Ronald Koeman wants to take 26 players to the European Championship. UEFA now allows only 23 players to be included in the final selection for the final tournament. Koeman announced that he would enter into discussions with UEFA. If this is successful, there is a greater chance that more Feyenoorders will be selected.
Mats Wieffer, Quinten Timber, Justin Bijlow, Calvin Stengs and Quilindschy Hartman hope for a spot in the final European Championship selection. “I find it absurd that you can only select 23 players for the European Championship,” the former Feyenoord player told De Telegraaf. “Fortunately, my German colleague Julian Nagelsmann also thinks so. We do not accept this either. UEFA should not be stubborn. They must do what is best for football and the level of the European Championship.”
“Football players are put under so much strain,” the national coach continues his explanation. “Then you get a lot of injuries. We started with 26 players a week and a half ago and in nine days four players dropped out. And that also happens in other countries. Now I have to hand in my final selection on June 7. After that I can only substitute an injured goalkeeper. And we won’t play our first match at the European Championship until June 16.”
Koeman expects that several players will be injured at the European Championship due to the busy schedule. “We have to lobby UEFA with several countries. I also understand that many more national coaches feel this way. We are going to the end of the season. Many national teams already have so many injured players that they cannot field. There is a good chance that this will get even worse in the coming months. If one player drops out, we will no longer be able to train eleven against eleven at the European Championship.”
