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Lieke Martens and Kika van Es are absent from Orange Women for Friday’s friendly against Costa Rica. Martens is out of form, while Van Es is injured.
Martens, 29, did not arrive in form at Zeist on Monday, having played 27 minutes for her club Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday. National coach Andries Jonker then expressed his hope that Martens will make minutes in this international match. The Netherlands will train against Denmark on Tuesday.
Martens has yet to train with the Netherlands. “But she was present at all the group discussions and at all the meals,” Jonker said during a digital press briefing on Thursday. The national coach couldn’t say what’s wrong with Martens for confidentiality reasons. “I’ve spoken to her several times. She seems very motivated.”
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For Martens, the call-up for the Netherlands was his first election since last summer’s disappointing European Championship. The 2017 World Footballer of the Year suffered a foot injury in the last group game against Switzerland. As a result, they missed the quarter-finals against France, which lost 0–1.
Almost two months later, Martens had failed to recover in time for the crucial qualifier against Iceland, in which the Netherlands grabbed a ticket to next year’s World Cup in Australia and Turkey. New Zealand. In October, the former FC Barcelona player was put on rest by national coach Jonker.
Brugts replaces Martens again
Esmee Brugts, 19, made a good impression at Orange as a replacement for Martens. She will also appear at kick-off against Costa Rica on Friday. The match will start at 8:00 p.m. and will be played at the FC Utrecht stadium.
Besides Martens, Jonker can’t rely on Van Es in this game. The experienced defender picked up an injury during the first days of training and didn’t recover in time. Vivianne Miedema and Jill Roord are not present in this international match, as they are resting.
Like the Netherlands, Costa Rica have qualified for next year’s World Cup on the other side of the world. For number 37 in the FIFA rankings, this will be the second participation in a world final.
Costa Rica is split into a group with Spain, Zambia and Japan. The Netherlands will meet the United States, Vietnam and the winner of Group A in the intercontinental play-offs (Portugal, Cameroon or Thailand).
Interlandperiode november Oranjevrouwen
- 11 november, 20.00 uur: Nederland-Costa Rica (Utrecht)
- 15 november, 20.00 uur: Nederland-Denemarken (Zwolle)
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