Eliminated player unexpectedly returns to the Netherlands squad for the 2023 Women's World Cup

On June 30, the list of players for the Netherlands women's national team participating in the 2023 Women's World Cup was reduced to 23 players and was announced by coach Andries Jonker. Of these, 1 goalkeeper and a player will participate in the World Cup as a reserve.

According to the announced list, fans of the "Orange Storm" were surprised by the return of defender Kika van Es. Because, this 31-year-old defender was among the 4 players who were dropped from the team last week and announced their retirement after the summer.

The 31-year-old defender was included in the squad, NU explained, because player Lynn Wilms was called back for a friendly match, giving her some rare playing time after announcing her retirement from professional football.

Tuyển thủ bị loại bất ngờ trở lại trong đội hình tuyển Hà Lan dự World Cup nữ 2023 - Ảnh 1.

Kika van Es was the runner-up of the 2019 World Cup and the champion of Euro 2017 with the Netherlands team (Photo: Reuters)

In addition, the Netherlands team continues to give 17-year-old player Wieke Kaptein the opportunity to participate in the 2023 Women's World Cup. With Kaptein, the 17-year-old female player has only played 9 matches for the Netherlands women's team in friendly matches this year. At the club level, the player born in 2005 has only played 59 matches in all competitions for FC Twente (Netherlands) with 3 goals from 2021 to present.

"I had sleepless nights and stress before the announcement of the list. That feeling was worse than a final exam. In the end, the reward I received was completely worthy of being present at the 2023 Women's World Cup" - Kaptein expressed.

According to coach Jonker, of the current 23 players, only 18 are certain to be on the official roster. Therefore, the remaining 3 positions are a fierce competition for the Dutch players.

Notably, yesterday's friendly match between the Netherlands women's team and the Netherlands U19 team was postponed for 15 minutes to clean up the pitch, when many pieces of glass and stones suddenly appeared. After the cleaning period, the pitch was still considered quite dangerous for the team participating in the 2023 Women's World Cup, so the match was moved to another nearby venue.

Tuyển thủ bị loại bất ngờ trở lại trong đội hình tuyển Hà Lan dự World Cup nữ 2023 - Ảnh 3.

The Dutch women's team and coaching staff clean up the field (Photo: NU)

On July 2, Coach Jonker and his team will have their final friendly match in the Netherlands against Belgium before moving to Sydney to train from July 9 to 17. During this time, the Dutch women's team will have another friendly match with South Korea.

In the 2023 Women's World Cup finals, the Vietnamese women's team will face the Netherlands in the final match of the group stage on August 1.

List of 23 Dutch women's team players attending the World Cup:

Goalkeepers (4): Daphne van Domselaar (FC Twente), Lize Kop (Ajax), Barbara Lorsheijd (ADO Den Haag), Jacintha Weimar (Feyenoord).

Defenders (9): Esmee Brugts (PSV), Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City), Caitlin Dijkstra (FC Twente), Merel van Dongen (Atletico Madrid), Kika van Es (PSV), Stefanie van der Gragt (Internazionale), Dominique Janssen (VfL Wolfsburg), Aniek Nouwen (AC Milan), Lynn Wilms (VfL Wolfsburg).

Midfielders (7): Jill Baijings (Bayer Leverkusen), Daniëlle van de Donk (Olympique Lyonnais), Damaris Egurrola (Olympique Lyonnais), Jackie Groenen (Paris Saint-Germain), Wieke Kaptein (FC Twente), Jill Roord (VfL Wolfsburg), Sherida Spitse (Ajax).

Forwards (7): Lineth Beerensteyn (Juventus), Renate Jansen (FC Twente), Fenna Kalma (FC Twente), Lieke Martens (Paris Saint-Germain), Victoria Pelova (Arsenal), Shanice van de Sanden (Liverpool), Katja Snoeijs (Everton).

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