The Netherlands to begin preparation for Euro 2020 with a three-day camp soon

The Netherlands will begin their preparation for Euro 2020 Championship from Monday as club football across Europe comes to a close.

Last week, head coach Frank de Boer named 34 players in the preliminary squad ahead of the Euro 2020 which begins next month. The preparation of the Dutch squad is expected to begin in two phases.

Manchester City’s defender Nathan Ake and Manchester United’s Donny van de Beek will not be able to be present in the initial training sessions as their clubs will be competing in the Champions League final and Europa League final respectively.

It is expected that the players will break on Wednesday following which coach De Boer will finalize the 26-man squad for the blockbuster summer event. The final squad will then reassemble to travel to Portugal on Saturday.

Though there had been doubts over the planned training camp in The Algarve in Portugal because of the travel restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dutch football association recently confirmed that the training camp will go ahead as per schedule. The Netherlands are also expected to play a friendly match against Scotland in Faro on the 2nd of June.

They will then spend a week in the country before returning back home to take on Georgia in a friendly at the Enschede on 6th June.

The Netherlands have had to cope with the loss of head coach Ronald Koeman in the summer who left the job in order to take charge in Barcelona. Under Koeman, the nation became a resurgent force in European football and even qualified for the final of the UEFA Nations League in 2019.

They finished runners-up in that tournament, losing the final against Portugal by a single goal. On their way to the final, the Dutch side defeated England 3-1 in the semi-finals.

However, under new manager Frank de Boer, Netherlands are yet to find their feet. They were defeated by Italy in September last year and are second in their 2021 UEFA Nations League group with three wins, two draws, and one loss.

The Netherlands will begin their UEFA Euro 2020 campaign with a match against Ukraine in Amsterdam on June 13. They will then take on Austria and North Macedonia in their remaining two group fixtures.