The Dutch Football Association has said that Netherlands duo Nathan Ake and Cody Gakpo will miss their country’s World Cup qualifier match against Turkey in Amsterdam on Tuesday. Gakpo suffered an injury after scoring in the 4-0 win over Montenegro three days back and Ake was allowed to leave the camp for yet not disclosed personal reasons.
Manager Louis van Gaal, before the Group G match at the Amsterdam Arena, said it was a pity that these both won’t play their next game as they are important players in the squad. He talked about the 22-year-old Gakpo who plays for PSV Eindhoven and said that he has shown great development and the team will miss him due to a shortage of players out wide.
Van Gaal said captain Virgil Van Dijk would come back in the defence after being rested during the weekend and Daley Blind would also be available from suspension. Turkey is the leader of Group G and are a point ahead of the Dutch and defeated them in Istanbul 4-2 at the start of the qualifying matches in March.
Van Gaal told the press that the Turkey game will be tough but he has a good feeling about the game and they just have to look at the results of the Group C games where Italy have drawn their matches. He added that it was a very important match but it is not a final and they can win and lose against each other but they will take an important step as they play at home with the fans. He continued saying that Turkey is a good game and play good football and it will be their toughest match in the group.
