Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken has admitted he needs to put his ego to one side as he continues to battle with Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen to be the Netherlands number one.
The goalkeeper has been speaking to 1 Limburg about the situation in the Netherlands squad at this moment in time, with an ongoing battle between him and the Brighton man to convince manager Ronald Koeman ahead of Euro 2024.
The Brentford man was chosen as the number one earlier this year but missed the last international break through illness and was replaced by Verbruggen.
The Brighton goalkeeper managed to impress in those two games and now appears to have won Koeman’s favour, with the Netherlands coach recently confirming that he would be the starting goalkeeper in this international break.
That will have come as a blow to the Brentford number one, who presumably fancied his chances of being first choice after being initially called up earlier this year.
And he’s admitted that the change did lead to some disappointment, but he’s putting his ego to one side in the continued drama.
“Of course, I’m disappointed, but I want to be there for the team and so you have to put your own ego aside,” he said.
“You should never take it for granted, you see how quickly it can go if you get sick or sustain an injury. I just have to make sure I stay fit and in shape.
“They (the other goalkeepers) are great guys to work with, we push ourselves to a higher level. There will always be competition, it wouldn’t be good if that weren’t the case. Of course, you always want to play, that’s what you do everything for.”
