Micky van de Ven has admitted that he was shocked to be included in the Netherlands’ provisional World Cup squad.
Van de Ven has impressed for Wolfsburg this season, catching the eye of many, including Oranje manager Louis van Gaal and his team.
When Van Gaal announced his 39-man pre-selection for the World Cup, the centre-back was one of three players included in such a squad for the first time ever, along with Xavi Simons and Mitchell Bakker.
He admits struggling to believe it when he first found out via a screenshot sent to him by his father’s girlfriend before receiving an email confirming the news.
“I was so shocked,” he told NH.
“It was my first call-up and then immediately for a World Cup selection, which is of course great.”
He admits that, with the strong options Van Gaal has in his position, it’ll be tough for him to make the final squad though.
“Maybe it will come, maybe not. I’ll see how it goes,” he added.
“If you look at that list… I think that the Netherlands is a really stable country in terms of defence, with players like Nathan Ake, Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt and Stefan de Vrij.
“So it will be difficult.”
