AFC Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert has returned to the Netherlands squad for the first time in over six years.
The attacking midfielder had a chat with Sportnieuws.nl, where he expressed his delight over receiving a late callup for the ongoing international break.
PSV Eindhoven’s Joey Veerman was forced to withdraw from the squad due to an injury. This saw Ronald Koeman replace him with the Bournemouth player.
Kluivert made debut for Oranje in March 2018 and made two appearances that month and those were his only two outings with the national team. He left Ajax for AS Roma in the summer of 2018.
The Dutchman spent five years with the Serie A side, before joining the Cherries in June 2023. He finished his debut season at Bournemouth with nine goals and two assists and has an assist from three league games this season.
“The real work starts now. It’s always an honour to get a call. It is also familiar, of course I know those guys. I immediately fit in well with the group. That’s nice,” he said.
“At that time, I was really busy with the invitation. I wasn’t there for a while when I went to Roma. I was disappointed by that. I was able to let that go and put full focus on the club. That is the most important thing, and the rest will take care of itself,” he said.
Sportnieuws.nl state it took the Netherlands international about ‘two to three years’ to ‘let go of the disappointment’. Since then, things have worked out well for him at the club and his performances have now been rewarded.
“Once I figured it out, it was very easy. I was always convinced of my own qualities. The moment I started focusing on club football, I felt calmer. I thought: ‘If it comes, it will come’,” Kluivert explained.
The Bournemouth player has also revealed his wife played a ‘major role’ in helping him overcome the disappointment of not receiving a callup from the Netherlands in recent years.
“That peace in my head and life, she is of course part of that. She helped me a lot,” he added.
