Northern Ireland v Netherlands

NETHERLANDS SQUAD

Words Liam Blackburn

GOALKEEPERS

JASPER CILLESSEN VALENCIA

JEROEN ZOET PSV EINDHOVEN

MARCO BIZOT AZ ALKMAAR

Age 30 Caps 54 Goals 0

Age Caps 0 Goals 0

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Age Caps

28 11

Goals 0

Won his first cap under Louis van Gaal in 2013 and was a regular at the following year's World Cup, although he was famously substituted for Tim Krul ahead of a penalty shootout against Costa Rica. Ex- Ajax stopper Cillessen spent three years as Barcelona's back-up before joining Valencia in the summer.

The uncapped Bizot was not part of Ronald Koeman's initial squad but was called up following an injury to Feyenoord stopper Kenneth Vermeer. Bizot, who has previously represented Netherlands Under- 21s and Under-19s, is in his third season with AZ after a spell in Belgium with Genk.

One-club man who is playing his seventh season as PSV's undisputed number one. Zoet, who is a three-time Eredivisie winner, is friends with darts world champion Michael van Gerwen. It has been over a year since Zoet last made an international appearance.

DEFENDERS

DALEY BLIND AJAX

STEFAN DE VRIJ INTER MILAN

VIRGIL VAN DIJK LIVERPOOL

Age Caps

29 68

Age Caps

27 37

Age Caps

28 32

Goals 2

Goals 3

Goals 4

Blind's dad, Danny, played for and managed his country, with his son also beginning his club career in Amsterdam with Ajax. The most experienced player in this Netherlands squad, Blind, who spent four years at Manchester United, made his senior international bow in 2013 having represented his country at various youth levels.

De Vrij made his Eredivisie debut as a 17-year-old for Feyenoord, a club he later captained before moving to Lazio in 2014. De Vrij, now with Inter, was a regular when Netherlands reached the semi-finals at the World Cup in 2014 and he scored his first international goal in the 5-1 victory over Spain.

The current UEFA Men's Player of the Year played with Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis at Southampton before making a big money move to Liverpool in 2018. Van Dijk, who only made his international debut in 2015, was named the Oranje's captain in 2018 by his old Saints boss Koeman.

MATTHIJS DE LIGT JUVENTUS

JOEL VELTMAN AJAX

NATHAN AKE BOURNEMOUTH

Age Caps

20 21

Age 27 Caps 21 Goals 2

Age Caps

24 11

Goals 2

Goals 1

Juventus won the race for the coveted signature of De Ligt this summer after the centre back captained Ajax to a domestic double and led them to the Champions League semi-finals. He made his Netherlands debut at 17, having played just twice for Ajax at the time, becoming the nation's youngest player since 1931.

Veltman, who missed most of last season having torn his ACL, has spent his entire career with Ajax, winning four league titles with them so far. Van Gaal handed him his first Netherlands cap in 2013 and he was part of the squad at the World Cup in 2014.

Moved from Feyenoord's youth system to Chelsea's academy and made his Premier League debut as a 17-year-old. Loan spells with Reading, Watford and Bournemouth followed before he became the Cherries' record signing in 2017. Ake, a regular at Netherlands youth levels, has only played nine minutes in this qualification campaign to date.

PATRICK VAN AANHOLT CRYSTAL PALACE

DENZEL DUMFRIES PSV EINDHOVEN

Age

29

Age Caps 9 Goals 0

23

Caps 9 Goals 0

Another player who started his senior career at Chelsea, Van Aanholt is now with Crystal Palace and scored a last-gasp winner at Old Trafford earlier this season. The full-back has spent the majority of his career in England having also played for Coventry City, Newcastle United, Leicester City, Wigan Athletic and Sunderland.

Earned his first international call-up in 2018 and was handed his debut 13 months ago against Belgium. He started each of Netherlands' games in the Nations League Finals and started the crucial qualifiers with Germany and Northern Ireland in September and October.

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