No room for Huntelaar, Depay in Netherlands squad

Amsterdam, Aug 26: Forwards Memphis Depay and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar were the main absentees from the Netherlands football squad named on Friday for the forthcoming friendly against Greece and the World Cup 2018 qualifier against Sweden.

Head coach Danny Blind emphasised that Depay has to get more playing time at his club Manchester United. Schalke's Huntelaar was also left out, because Blind prefers Vincent Janssen, Luuk de Jong and Bas Dost as first three strikers, reports Xinhua.

Just like in the previous internationals this year, Robin van Persie was not included for the same reason as Huntelaar. The 21-year-old PSV midfielder Jorrit Hendrix debutes in the squad.

The Dutch national team will play Greece on September 1 in Eindhoven and starts the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign five days later against Sweden in Solna, Sweden.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Jasper Cillessen (FC Barcelona), Jeroen Zoet (PSV Eindhoven), Maarten Stekelenburg (Everton)

Defenders: Daley Blind (Manchester United), Jeffrey Bruma (VfL Wolfsburg), Virgil van Dijk (Southampton), Kenny Tete (Ajax), Joel Veltman (Ajax), Ron Vlaar (AZ), Jetro Willems (PSV), Patrick van Aanholt (Sunderland)

Midfielders: Riechedly Bazoer (Ajax), Davy Klaassen (Ajax), Davy Propper (PSV), Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray), Kevin Strootman (AS Roma), Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool), Jorrit Hendrix (PSV)

Forwards: Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord), Bas Dost (VfL Wolfsburg), Luuk de Jong (PSV), Luciano Narsingh (PSV), Quincy Promes (Spartak Moscow), Vincent Janssen (Tottenham Hotspur).