Stoke City’s Bruno Martins Indi last played international football 14 months ago. He got a silly red card against Iceland, further hampering Netherlands’ disastrous Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and hasn’t been seen again until now.
At the time manager Danny Blind was under huge pressure, as he may again be after the current international break, and it very much seemed like Martins Indi was a scapegoat, a player sacrificed after a poor decision.
Called up to Blind’s squad again, but only after injury withdrawals, the Stoke City player has already commented on that fateful match and the consequences: “A negative moment that has had much influence, but that is a thing of a past.”
Martins Indi could be forgiven for being a little bitter, although he obviously couldn’t say that or would face banishment again, and Danny Blind has been pressed on it.
De Telegraaf quote the Dutch manager as saying: “With Bruno I am this evening going to drink a cup of coffee. If there’s something, he must say… He has not had the best time at FC Porto, but is now at Stoke City he is again a solid player. Therefore he is back at Oranje. I do not expect complicated conversation.”
The Stoke City player will obviously be absolutely polite, maybe submissive, and do everything he can to avoid being cast into the wilderness again. He can hardly turn around and tell Blind he was wrong for hanging him out to dry, and point out that the manager played a much larger role in the qualification failure than he did… can he?
