Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg has admitted he is hoping to sneak into the Netherlands squad for Euro 2024, even with the fierce competition for places in Ronald Koeman’s defence.
The youngster has been speaking to Voetbalzone about life with the international set up after disappointment with the Dutch Juniors, where he missed out on a place at their European Championship due to injury.
That was a blow for the defender, who had been a part of the entire qualification campaign and was likely to be a regular at the tournament.
He ultimately missed out on a disappointing campaign for the nation as they were knocked out of the group stages of the tournament in Georgia and Romania following three straight draws.
His hope is that he can feature for them regularly in the Bundesliga this season and perhaps show himself off to the senior Netherlands side for the Euros next summer, although he knows that won’t be easily given the competition, including Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
“Everything is feasible. You sometimes see boys make so much progress within one year, and I wouldn’t rule that out either,” he said.
“You can make very big steps in one year and you never know how things will turn out. If I said I didn’t think about it, I’d be lying. Of course, that’s in the back of my mind. I certainly hope so.
“It’s not easy for a central defender in this generation. There are a lot of adult boys such as Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Aké and Matthijs de Ligt.
“In addition, you also have a lot of young boys running, such as Lutsharel Geertruida, Sven Botman, Jurriën Timber and Micky van der Ven. Maybe we should just play with six men at the back.”
