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Strootman World Cup Absence a Huge Blow for Netherlands
Published: March 11, 2014
Strootman had already received minor damage to his right knee during the Netherlands' 2-0 friendly defeat to France last Wednesday and was substituted at half-time as a precautionary measure.
However, the 24-year-old had recovered in time for the weekend's Serie A clash—only to then tear cartilage in his left knee before being stretchered off just 13 minutes into the Stadio San Paolo encounter.
Whilst the injury is a blow to his Italian club side, the impact on his national side is far greater. Rudi Garcia's Roma will still secure Champions League qualification without Strootman but for Louis van Gaal's Netherlands the situation causes a huge dilemma.
As per BBC Sport, van Gaal had named the midfielder as one of three players—alongside Bayern's Arjen Robben and Manchester United's Robin van Persie—guaranteed a seat on the plane to Brazil and his absence will leave a huge hole in Holland's World Cup plans.
Van Gaal conceded: "For the national side it is a huge blow. Kevin made a huge contribution to our qualification, he never let us down and now his dreams have died."
The former PSV midfielder was superb in his country's unbeaten World Cup qualification campaign, completing more passes than any other Dutch player and also scoring his third international goal against Hungary. Although he is an extremely able technician, perhaps it is his physical presence that will be missed most.
Strootman has previously been labelled as the "Dutch Roy Keane" and is one of the game's true warriors. With the likes of Wesley Sneijder and Robben in the side, it is important to have a real fighter to sure things up in the middle of the park; the Roma man was easily van Gaal's best opti...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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