The Dutch national team return to De Kuip in Rotterdam for the first time since May 2014 for tomorrow’s world cup qualifier with Belarus. Stadium director Jan van Merwijk spoke to the NOS about the preparations ahead of the match.

  • By James Rowe
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de-kuipFeyenoord’s De Kuip stadion is widely regarded to have one the best atmosphere in Dutch football, but the Amsterdam Arena has remained the main stadium for national matches in recent years. However, on Friday the Oranje return to De Kuip when it plays host to the Euro qualifier with Belarus.

Van Merwijk said, ”We have been arranging agreements for some time with the KNVB regarding staging matches for the Dutch national team again and all parties are happy. Two years ago when the KNVB decided that De Kuip was insufficient to hold Dutch national team matches we were disappointed but it was the right decision at the time in terms of comparing the facilities of other stadiums in the Netherlands and we have worked hard to get De Kuip ready for such matches in the future.

”The visitors changing room has been renovated and we have made improvements on all fronts within the limited space that we have in the stadium.




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