Bart Verbruggen from Breda is the most surprising name in the pre-selection of the Dutch national team that will start qualifying for the European Championship this month. The 20-year-old keeper of the Belgian team Anderlecht recently stole the show by stopping all penalties in a Conference League match against Ludogorets in Bulgaria. That had not happened in a European cup tournament for decades.
The selection was announced on Friday afternoon by Ronald Koeman, who succeeds Louis van Gaal as national coach.
Verbruggen was trained at NAC. Anderlecht took him over from the Breda club two and a half years ago. The goalkeeper was already a youth international.
Of course, Koeman also included another Breda resident in the provisional group: Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk. His teammate Cody Gakpo has also been selected. The former PSV player has been playing for the ‘Reds’ since this year.
The Eindhoven club is now only represented by Xavi Simons and Joey Veerman. 39-time international Luuk de Jong has thanked the Orange. Vincent Janssen from Oss, who regularly scores for Royal Antwerp, is also part of the group.
The Dutch will play against France on March 24 and against Gibraltar three days later. These are the first games on the way to the 2024 European Championship in Germany. Greece and Ireland are also in the same qualifying group.
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