Bart Verbruggen is in a confident mood ahead of EURO2024 after Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman confirmed he would be his country’s number one for the tournament.
The Dutch play Canada on Thursday in their first warm-up match before the Euros starts on Friday 14 June, and our 21-year-old goalkeeper will be between the sticks for the 1998 champions when they kick-off against Poland in Hamburg two days later.
Verbruggen said, “I am very excited to play at the Euros, it’s a childhood dream for me.
“I had a smile from ear to ear when I was told I was number one, and now I can really focus and prepare for that first game and the tournament. It’s nice to have that clarity.
“I'm not one to feel pressure and I don’t feel any pressure yet. Maybe it will come – I haven’t played a tournament at this level – but right now I feel good. I know what I can do and what work I have put in.
“You have to have confidence in yourself, and you get confidence from training and your teammates helping to keep the pressure off. I feel calm right now and have a lot of confidence in this squad.”
Koeman shares his young ‘keeper’s confidence, choosing him to start for The Oranje over Brentford’s Mark Flekken and Feyenoord’s Justin Bijlow.
The former Barcelona boss said, “It was clear to me a few weeks ago that Bart would be our number one goalkeeper.
“If everything goes well and Bart reaches his level, it could be that he is our number one goalkeeper for some time.
“He is a good age, he is playing in the Premier League and I think he will only get better. He has a great future ahead of him.”