“It was not a matter of risking,” said the Dutch coach about Barça's midfielder, absent against Lithuania

Frenkie de Jong He is already in Barcelona after his participation in the last match of the Netherlands selection against Poland in Rotterdam. Barça's midfielder did not end that match for some buttock discomforts that do not have gravity, but that as a precaution led the coach 'Oranje' Ronald Koeman Not to have him facing the qualifying match for the World Cup that his selection will play this Sunday in Lithuania. In the press conference before this clash, the former Barça coach dedicated more explanations to the rest of Jong, since “he had some discomfort during the game.”

In his opinion, there is no reason to expose more than due. «That's why we replace Frenkie. He had not recovered enough to be available for tomorrow's game. We do not believe it is very serious, but it was too risky letting it play, ”he said.

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What he did not want is to give clues about the player who can relieve De Jong in the center of the 'Oranje' field, where Barca has become a player to whom the rivals dedicate special attention, as the Barça striker revealed Robert Lewandowski When on Thursday he said that one of his main missions in the Holland-Poland that ended up in one was “to avoid that Jong drove the ball.” In fact, Koeman expects Lithuania to play as Poland did. “You have to play from behind as quickly as possible and change side,” he concluded.