No Dutch duty for van Bommel

By Brenz
October 2 2006

Bayern Munich midfielder Mark van Bommel has opted to call a halt to his international career. The 29-year-old was handed a recall for the upcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers by Holland coach Marco van Basten, having been dropped from the squad following the Oranje's World Cup failure. Van Bommel and van Basten had troubles before, the latter ignored his great form while still playing for PSV, which lead to an upset in Holland. Van Bommel has made it now clear that he won't be playing again for Holland under the current regime.

Mark van Bommel remained tight lipped when being confronted with the news. He stated that his thoughts are solely with Bayern Munich.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has refused to play for Holland as stand in for the injured Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, with the striker citing similar reasons to Van Bommel.

The refusal to play for Holland from both players is a big subject in Holland and van Basten is being blamed for ignoring two of the better Dutch players.

The Holland coach is also getting a lot of critism for sticking with the typical Dutch 4-3-3 formation. Van Basten and Johan Cruijff are big admirers of the formation but according the critics Holland should play 4-4-2, because of the lack of quality right wingers.

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