The Netherlands approach the World Championship with a notable change in the pivot position. Merel Freriks has left the selection due to a serious knee injury, the replacement needs no further introduction. Yvette Broch takes a place in Per Johansson’s squad for the championship.
Freriks, with Brest Bretagne as club affiliation took a tough hit which turned out to be a cruciate ligament injury just before the WC preparation.
– This is so sad and it hurts a lot to see players get seriously injured. Merel is a fantastic person, player and character who indeed will be missed in the World Championship, says Johansson to the association’s website.
The coach, who started working with the dutch national team in 2022, instead had to persuade another resource to take over for Freriks.
Broch out since the Olympics
Yvette Broch has several championships and medals for the ´Oranje Dames´ on her track record. Since the spring of 2021, the 32-year-old has been left out of the selections, beginning when she did not want to be vaccinated against covid-19 and was not allowed to go to the Tokyo Olympics.
When Johansson calls up the icon from Györ, Broch’s background is neither here nor there.
– It is my job to get the best players in the Netherlands into the national team, he says to Algemeen Dagblad.
– I called her again this morning and she said she was available and wanted to come to the WC.
– I consider her experience and personality to be of great value to the team, Johansson continues to AD.
The Netherlands face Argentina, Congo-Brazzaville and the Czech Republic during the World Cup group stage in Fredrikshamn.