The main European event of this summer, the UEFA EURO 2024, is set to kick off in a few days, and several FC Barcelona players are going to participate in this competition.
But unfortunately, one player who was previously expected to feature in this tournament, Frenkie de Jong, has now been ruled out because of an ankle injury that he suffered in the latter phases of the last season with FC Barcelona.
Earlier, the midfielder was optimistic of his chances of playing for his country, but now, has decided to sit out this EURO as he does not want to take excessive risks with his injury.
This will be a particularly bitter pill to swallow for the former Barcelona coach and legend, Ronald Koeman, who is now in charge of the Dutch national team.
His team is set to start their UEFA EURO campaign on 16th June when they will face the Polish national team of Robert Lewandowski, who himself had to leave the pitch with an injury last night.
As SPORT has reported, Koeman was critical of his former club in the press conference after the match, as he held Barcelona responsible for this situation. The Dutch tactician commented in the press conference:
“We have concluded that even in the next three weeks, De Jong will not be fully recovered. He has a history with this injury. His club took a risk before, and now we have to pay the price.”
Koeman has an understandable cause to complain as Frenkie de Jong was one of the key players for his Dutch national side.
However, since he was dismissed by the club in October 2021, he has been highly critical of Barcelona on several occasions, and this is only the latest event of him taking aim at his former side.
