Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong doubted his troublesome ankle injury would ever go away but he is delighted to resume his international career after more than a year out of the team.
He will likely get playing time in the Nations League on Saturday when the Dutch host Hungary in Amsterdam in their penultimate group match, having only returned to the Barcelona team last month after almost six months on the sidelines.
“Did I wonder whether I would ever fully recover? That crossed my mind sometimes, but I always had the confidence that I would eventually be able to play football again,” De Jong told reporters on Wednesday.
“There was uncertainty about how long it would take and whether my ankle would be completely the same as it was before,” De Jong said.
The 27-year-old said the hardest part was missing this year’s European Championship in Germany where the Dutch reached the semi-final.
“That was tough. I watched all the matches of the Dutch national team but not much of the rest. I did not want to be confronted with it every time.”
De Jong played his last international in September 2023 against Ireland.
He was taken off on Sunday when Barcelona lost at Real Sociedad but fears he would miss out for the Netherlands again were abated when he arrived at the training camp on Tuesday.
“I first got a blow on the muscle next to my shin and then another kick, but it was nothing to do with my knee or ankle. I knew it was not a serious injury, but it did bother me a lot,” De Jong said.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town, Editing by Ed Osmond)
