Pieters ruled out of Oranje's EURO plans
Monday, May 7, 2012
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Erik Pieters will not to travel to UEFA EURO 2012 after the left-back failed to recover in time from the foot injury he sustained while playing for PSV Eindhoven last month.
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The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) have confirmed that left-back Erik Pieters will not be part of the Dutch squad at UEFA EURO 2012 because of the foot injury he sustained last month.
The KNVB made the announcement when releasing Bert van Marwijk's provisional list of 36 players from which the coach will select his squad for the finals in Poland and Ukraine.
Pieters, 23, fractured a metatarsal bone in his right foot in PSV Eindhoven's 2-1 loss to RKC Waalwijk on 11 April, having missed four months due to a similar injury earlier in the season. After he had a plaster cast removed on Monday, a decision was made that he would not be part of Van Marwijk's plans.
"Pieters' metatarsal injury has not healed in time," said PSV in a statement. "It is unclear how long he will be out for and what the next course of treatment and medical prognosis is."
Pieters, who has won 15 caps, played in nine of the Netherlands' EURO qualifiers and had cemented his position as his country's first-choice left-back. Van Marwijk added: "This is a real setback for us, but for Erik himself it's obviously the hardest blow."
Uncapped Jasper Cillessen, Ola John, Adam Maher, Erwin Mulder, Luciano Narsingh, Nick Viergever, Stefan de Vrij, and Jetro Willems were among the 36 players selected by Van Marwijk. The list will be reduced to around 27 before 17 May.
The Oranje begin their UEFA EURO 2012 campaign against Denmark in Kharkiv on 9 June before facing three-time champions Germany and Portugal in Group B.
