PSV player Joey Veerman hits back and is the face of the campaign about character during the Orange weekend of all days | Sport

In the run-up to the Football World Cup, there was a lot about the absence of Joey Veerman and the reason why. During the weekend that the Dutch team plays for the first time, the Volendam PSV player is the face of an advertising campaign that revolves around character.

With the cooperation of Veerman, the clothing brand G-STAR is responding to the situation surrounding Veerman, who has not been included in the World Cup selection by national coach Ronald Koeman.

References were sometimes made to his character and that went down the wrong way for Veerman. “If you don’t call me up because of my qualities, that’s completely fine,” he said before the start of the World Cup. “But don’t start about my character.” Now he’s hitting back again.

Many football analysts do not understand why Veerman is not in the 26-man selection of the Dutch team, after three championships in a row with PSV and also a number of good international matches.

The management behind the G-STAR brand believes Veerman’s actions demonstrate character, a spokesperson said. “It’s about honesty and staying true to yourself in this campaign. We emphatically do not choose the football story, but the human story,” is the comment.

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It is of course no coincidence that the campaign is being launched on the weekend that the Dutch team plays football for the first time at the World Cup. Veerman is depicted with an orange ball in his feet, with the text ‘Holland’ on it.

The brand wants to choose ‘people who chart their own course’, the statement reads. Veerman has previously stated that he will remain a supporter of the Dutch team, despite the fact that he himself is not in the selection.

The Volendammer himself is also making himself heard in the campaign. “I’m not into pretending to be different to please others. You are who you are. So when G-STAR called, I answered.” During the PSV championship party, he spoke in slightly less flattering terms about the Dutch team. “They’re just figuring it out together,” Veerman said on the stage at Eindhoven’s Stadhuisplein.