One year later! Frenkie de Jong will wear the Dutch national team shirt again

Published:8/11/2024 - 17:11h

Updated:9/11/2024 - 11:57h

Frenkie de Jong is still radiant. After recovering from his injury and starting to play minutes for Barça, his call-up to the Dutch national team for the FIFA date in November has now been confirmed

And one day, Frenkie de Jong was once again part of the Dutch national football team call-up. Finally, for this FIFA date in November, the last one of this year 2024, Ronald Koeman decided to include the player from Arkel in his list of 26 players who will be available for the two matches (matchdays five and six) that the 'Oranje' will play in the UEFA Nations League, both against Hungary (11/16 at Amsterdam Arena) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (11/19 at Bilino Polje Stadium).

𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗝𝗘 🦁 - November 2024 📋

Welcome back @DeJongFrenkie21, Noa Lang and @RenschDevyne 🧡#NothingLikeOranje #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/m15HbySPUR
— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) November 8, 2024

At this point, it is important to note that Frenkie de Jong had not been officially called up to the Dutch national team since September 2023. The midfielder from FC Barcelona was part of the 'Oranje' that played the two qualifying matches for Euro 2024 against Greece and Ireland. In both matches, the former Ajax player was in action, playing a total of 77 minutes in the 3-0 victory against the Greeks and 90 minutes in the 1-2 victory against the Irish.

Why had Frenkie de Jong not been called up by the Dutch national team again?

Since then, Frenkie de Jong had not been able to wear the Dutch national team jersey. What was the main reason? Several injuries that began to knock on his door. For example, he missed the FIFA date in October 2023, during the matches against France (10/13) and Greece (10/16), related to the qualifiers for the Euro, due to a distal tibiofibular syndesmosis injury in his right ankle suffered in the match against Celta de Vigo (09/23) in matchday six of LaLiga EA Sports 2023-24.

This same physical setback prevented him from participating in the FIFA date in November 2023, in the matches against Ireland (11/18) and Gibraltar (11/21) also for the Euro 2024 qualifiers. These matches were the last for the Dutch national team in 2023.

The injuries had hindered the '21' from returning to action with the 'Oranje'

Now, international football did not resume until March 2024, when the 'Oranje' played friendlies against Scotland (03/22) and Germany (03/26). Once again, Frenkie de Jong was dealing with a sprain in his right ankle suffered in the match against Athletic Club (03/03) in matchday 27 of LaLiga EA Sports 2023-24.

After this period, there was an interval of at least three months before the international matches resumed in early June. The Dutch national team had friendlies against Canada (06/06) and Iceland (06/10), in which Frenkie de Jong could not participate due to his recovery from a right ankle injury (severe grade two sprain) suffered in a match against Real Madrid (04/21) in matchday 32 of LaLiga EA Sports 2023-24.

This injury also prevented him from participating in the six matches played by the Netherlands in the Euro: against Poland (06/16), France (06/21), Austria (06/25), Romania (07/02), Turkey (07/06), and England (07/10). It seems that the Dutch player wanted to try to force his participation in this tournament, but ultimately decided not to take risks. Additionally, this setback sidelined him from the FIFA date matches in September 2024 against Bosnia and Herzegovina (09/07) and Germany (09/10).

Will Koeman give Frenkie minutes in this FIFA date?

Finally, for the month of October, with Frenkie de Jong now recovered and available to be part of a call-up for the FIFA date corresponding to the matches against Hungary (10/11) and Germany (10/14), the coaching staff decided not to call him up to preserve his physical condition, as he had just recovered from an injury.

Now, Frenkie de Jong will have the opportunity to return to action or at least be called up to participate in the FIFA date in November, where the team will face Hungary (11/16) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (11/19). It will be evaluated whether Ronald Koeman decides to include him from the start or prefers to introduce him gradually, as Hansi Flick has been doing in the starting eleven of Barcelona.