Sepp van den Berg missed call for Netherlands debut on vacation in Marrakech
Sepp van den Berg ignored his phone while relaxing in Marrakech before discovering a late call-up to the Netherlands squad, Voetbal International reported.
National coach Xavi Hernández added the 24-year-old Brentford defender to the squad on Tuesday as a replacement for injured captain Virgil van Dijk, De Telegraaf reported. The unexpected selection brings Van den Berg into the Oranje setup ahead of their final Nations League group fixtures. The Netherlands hosts Greece in Amsterdam on Friday before traveling to Berlin to face Germany on Monday. Both matches kick off at 20:45 CET, with the Dutch and Greeks leading the group on eight points while Germany sits on five points and Serbia remains without a point. “I was just one day in Marrakesh because I was on holiday with my girlfriend and had been given four days off by the club,” Van den Berg told VoetbalPrimeur.
“I got a call in the morning and didn’t pick up because I thought, ‘I’m on holiday, nobody should be calling me.’ Luckily I got a text message afterwards, and then I called back very quickly and booked flights.” “The past 24 hours have been very hectic,” Van den Berg told Football International.
“I had to start right away.” “That was tough because I hadn’t done anything for two days, but it’s great to be here with guys I know from Jong Oranje.” The defender’s path to the senior national team required overcoming severe mental and physical hurdles following a high-profile move from PEC Zwolle to Liverpool in 2019 for two million euros, De Telegraaf reported. During his early days at Anfield, Van Dijk personally asked the kitman to place Van den Berg’s locker next to his own to help the then 17-year-old settle, NOS Football reports.
“I remember that on my first day,” Van den Berg told the Brentford website.
Limited playing time eventually eroded the youngster’s confidence, leading to a difficult period of isolation while living alone in England.
“I would come home, living alone, and I had no one to talk to,” Van den Berg told NOS Football during Mental Health Awareness Week.
“I had no desire to train, and right after training I would go straight home and stare at the walls.” “I didn’t make friends.
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Frequent FaceTime calls with his mother eventually helped him process the emotional strain, NOS Football reports. A subsequent loan move to Schalke 04 in 2022 brought further adversity when he suffered a severe ankle dislocation that tore all lateral ligaments during his fourth Bundesliga appearance.
“It was a horror injury,” Van den Berg told NOS Football.
“The only thing I remember from that period is that I was just crying. I was devastated.”
After completing subsequent loan spells at FSV Mainz 05, Van den Berg permanently departed Liverpool for Brentford in a transfer valued at 24 million euros, De Telegraaf reported. Striker Brian Brobbey also withdrew alongside Van Dijk due to a lack of fitness ahead of the upcoming fixtures, Puna.nl reported.
🇳🇱 Xavi has called up Brentford defender Sepp van den Berg to the Netherlands national team as replacement for Virgil van Dijk who is deemed not fit for this international break. pic.twitter.com/J1nZjSd3GR
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