Wesley Sneijder spoke to the NOS whilst away on international duty and discussed his role of elder statesman in the squad.
- By James Rowe
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Sneijder currently has 121 international caps for his country having made his debut in a friendly against Portugal in 2003. He has scored 29 goals for the Oranje having played in three European Championships and three World Cups. However, with Netherlands poor form recently there have been calls for the veteran to be dropped.
Sneijder said, “I am currently one of the most experienced players in the squad and I want to make it clear that I still come to play for the national team with a positive feeling. It is true that we have had a difficult time of late but there is always an opportunity to put that right in international football and let’s hope that we can do that together during this upcoming world cup qualifying campaign.
”In terms of being in the starting lineup you never know but I have always stated when I report for international duty that I still want to be of worth on the field and not just in the changing room. I have experience and I know what the Dutch national team is all about and I can reiterate that to the squad for players that are new or that have only joined up recently and I definitely have the feeling that I am still of worth to the Dutch national team.”
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he no longer adds to the team; just aiming for the appearance record
Sneijder is incredibly important in the squad with his experience we need a leader that players can respect, if he’s fit he should start no doubt