Roord candidate for gap-Miedema? “Like Viev, I like to hit the ball”

It’s been a long time since Jill Roord wore orange. She missed the Netherlands national team’s practice matches in November and February due to injuries. But now he has signed up to Zeist for the next training camp of national coach Andries Jonker, who is trying to prepare the team for the World Cup next summer.

“I missed those two stages and it felt like a long time,” said Roord, who qualified for the Champions League semi-finals last week with VfL Wolfsburg at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain. “I must say I am really looking forward to it.”

But the experienced midfielder admits that it takes some getting used to. “It’s a completely different style of play. And also training. There’s a lot more focus on the ball and football here. It’s more about business in Germany.”

gauge

Speaking of Germany, this is the first of Orange’s two rivals in Friday’s practice. “Half of my team plays for this team,” he says with a smile. “Germany is definitely one of the World Cup favourites. They have a very good selection. They are also in good form, which will be a very good indicator for us.”

National coach Jonker is very happy to have the whole group reunited. “It’s nice that we can get back to work, train and see each other and play games to see how we’re doing.”

As the successor of Mark Parsons, who left after the disappointing EURO, said, he will be a role model for the team. “There is no more time to experiment with players. Yet there will still be a struggle here and there between a player or other player who at some point has to prove they have to be on the field.

fight for places

“We can take 23 players to the World Cup. I think fifteen, sixteen names can be written, but beyond that there is a struggle for space. There is still a long way to go before the World Cup, but as a player this week you can take advantage of that, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be playing Portugal in the first game.”

Wieke Kaptein and Sisca Folkertsma are two important names in the national team’s group played against Germany (Friday, 7 April) and Poland (Tuesday, 11 April). The first – only 17 years old – is completely new, while the other is back after a long hiatus.

“I saw Wieke in the Super Cup final in September,” explains Jonker. “At that time he was already one of FC Twente’s most important players. And nine months later it still is. It’s not how old you are, it’s how good you are. It deserves a choice for now. Now that he’s definitely in the group due to Jackie Groenen’s injury. We’ll see how it is. Without pressure.”

Folkertsma as a midfielder Kaptein is another story. “I saw Iceland-Netherlands under Parsons’ lead and he played well. My team also went to France, but he may not always play in Bordeaux because maybe he can leave. It’s not where we want it to be.” … But he’s coming back from a second cruciate ligament injury and before that he was a great player. Now we can see something from it.”

collect good

Roord seems to have little to prove. The only controversy that may arise about the 25-year-old player from Oldenzaal is his position. “We haven’t talked about it yet,” she admits when asked. “We agree on what kind of player I am.”

I am good with the ball and can play well in tight spaces. For example, when the axis is ‘off’, one game is for more axes and another time for more sides. It also depends on the opponent and how dominant we are. But most importantly, I don’t touch the ball.”

Now that it’s clear that Vivianne Miedema won’t be able to recover from her cruciate ligament rupture in time, there is a gap that needs to be filled during rush hour. Jonker could choose Lineth Beerensteyn (Juventus), Fenna Kalma (FC Twente) or Romée Leuchter (Ajax), but Miedema herself sees a lot of herself in Roord.

“Right, I can play there too. I also like to hit the ball like ‘Viev’. This means there is room for depth in other positions. This is exactly what we want per game. But there it is.” It doesn’t matter what position I play as long as I play.”

Source: NOS