Group gets smaller

Rafael van der Vaart and Henk Timmer will not travel with Oranje to Slovenia. The HSV captain is suffering too much from a hit on the calf, Henk Timmer isn’t needed since Edwin van der Sar is ready and match fit.

Arjen Robben, Joris Mathijsen and Wesley Sneijder didn’t train with the group, due to little injuries.

Van Basten will not call up on a replacement for Rafael van der Vaart. This morning, the team manager left Holland with 18 players in total.

“At least I am pretty confident that all 18 are fit to play on Wednesday.” so stated Van Basten yesterday. Earlier on, Van Basten removed De Cler, Jaliens and Landzaat from the group.

The team manager declared he still supports the tactics he deployed against Rumania last Saturday. “I have replayed the match on video and I still support my own decisions, really. I don’t think it’s strange I didn’t bring in another striker. We had three on the pitch, they can all three score… It would be too crowded with all those strikers… We shouldn’t forget that Rumania is a tough opponent. We didn’t play well, but it is not a disgrace to draw against Rumania. These things happen.”

Van Basten also stated that Landzaat and Jaliens are held responsible for the disappointing result against Rumania. “No no, we asked them to leave because we won’t be needing them for Slovenia. That’s all. We win together and lose together.”

Dirk Kuyt was training with Oranje as if nothing happened. The Liverpool striker was sharp in the training match and scored the winning goal(s).

“I am not a quitter,” he said after the press asked him if he’d consider walking away from Oranje, like van Nistelrooy. “I’ll make sure I am ready for the Wednesday match. I hope I can start. If I don’t play? Let’s say that would make this week a very disappointing one.”