Tension rises: which North Hollanders will Van Gaal take with him to the World Cup?

Ajax is purveyor to the pre-selection. Van Gaal included nine Ajax players in his provisional selection. Most have nothing to fear. We can assume that Remko Pasveer, Jurriën Timber, Daley Blind, Davy Klaassen, Steven Berghuis and Steven Bergwijn will come along. It’s more exciting for Devyne Rensch, Kenneth Taylor and Brian Brobbey.

Due to the injury at Bruno Martins Indi, only the name of Jordy Clasie is noted in the booklet of the national coach at AZ. The midfielder was missing in the last international match at his own request, because he was not completely fit. Whether that has consequences for his participation in the World Cup will become clear this afternoon. Clasie was there during the 2014 World Cup, also with Van Gaal as national coach.

Text continues below the photo.

Of the former AZ players Teun Koopmeiners, Guus Til, Vincent Janssen and Wout Weghorst, Koopmeiners has by far the best papers. Although Janssen, now player of FC Antwerp, left a good impression in the last international match.

Micky van de Ven

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Micky van de Ven may be coming along. The defender from Wormer played football in the first division at FC Volendam a year and a half ago. This season he did not miss a minute in the Bundesliga at VfL Wolfsburg. He scored his first goal last weekend. Van de Ven recently told NH Sport that he read in the family app that Van Gaal had put him on the list. “It was also really shocking for me. What is this?”, was the first reaction of Van de Ven.

Text continues below the video with Micky van de Ven.

Van de Ven has competition for the position of left-footed defender from two other people from North Holland: Mitchel Bakker from Purmerend and Sven Botman from Badhoevedorp. Both former Ajax players naturally also hope for an election.

Amsterdammers

The national coach can no longer ignore Xavi Simons, who was born in Amsterdam. The 19-year-old attacker has made a big impression at PSV in recent months. That applies much less to Ryan Gravenberch, who makes fewer minutes than hoped after his switch from Ajax to Bayern Munich. Another Amsterdammer, Jeremie Frimpong, is a candidate for the right side of the defense.

Up front, the competition is fierce. Despite this, 24-year-old Donyell Malen hopes to survive the selection. Last weekend he played 68 minutes at Borussia Dortmund against VfL Wolfsburg. Unfortunately for Malen, as in his previous eight Bundesliga games, he failed to score.

Last year NH Nieuws visited amateur club Succes from Hippolytushoef, where Malen started playing football.