Marco van Ginkel has been added to the Netherlands training camp in place of the injured PSV striker Jurgen Locadia.
- By Michael Bell
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal named twenty players from the Eredivisie to take part in the pre-world Cup training camp, and included PSV striker Jurgen Locadia, who earned his spot by netting 13 goals this season.
However injury has forced Locadia to leave the camp, and Van Gaal has called up Chelsea midfielder Marco van Ginkel instead. Chelsea still have one league game to play, but since the Dutchman was unlikely to be involved, he has been given permission to travel to Hoenderloo to join the squad.
Van Ginkel has one Netherlands cap to his name, but would have added more if he did not suffer a serious knee injury in September which sidelined the youngster until last month. After playing a number of reserve matches, Van Ginkel has been named on the bench for the Chelsea first team, but didn’t make an appearance for Jose Mourinho’s side.
The midfielder now has a month to prove his fitness to Van Gaal before the coach names his 23-man squad to take to Brazil. With Kevin Strootman missing the tournament with injury, Van Ginkel could prove to be the perfect replacement.
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