Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt is hoping to overcome his groin injury in time to face Ukraine on Sunday.

The Juventus defender did not face Georgia last weekend in the final warm-up game as he struggled with a groin issue.

De Ligt has been training apart from the group at times this week but he is hopeful of being fit for Netherlands first group game against Ukraine.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, De Ligt said, “But the groin is doing well. It is a matter of waiting every day to see how it recovers, but I hope to be able to train with the group in the coming days. Sunday’s game against Ukraine is feasible and therefore my goal. I’m doing everything I can to achieve that.”

De Ligt is looking forward to his first European Championships, “Something I look forward to. It’s nice that I can do that now. Much is new. For example, I feel that we as a group have been together twice as long as we have ever been together before. How we train and interact with each other is really very positive. I’m really looking forward to the European Championships.”

The fact that Netherlands are not among the favourites does not bother De Ligt, “Prizes are won on the field and not based on statistics and predictions from data agencies. I don’t care either. I think it’s good if we can start growing in a tournament without too high expectations.”




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