No surprises in Dutch squad

AMSTERDAM: Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, Manchester City’s Nathan Ake and Manchester United’s Tyrell Malacia have been named in the Netherlands squad for the World Cup in Qatar.

Injured Barcelona forward Memphis Depay and uncapped 19-year-old midfielder Xavi Simons have also been included. Simons has scored eight goals in 13 league games for PSV Eindhoven. United midfielder Donny van de Beek has not been picked by coach Louis van Gaal. Veteran NEC Nijmegen goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, 33, has also been overlooked.

Thiago and De Gea miss out

Manchester City duo of Aymeric Laporte and Rodri have been included in Spain’s World Cup squad, but Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea miss out.

De Gea, who has 45 caps, has not made an international appearance for two years, while Thiago earned the last of his 46 caps at European Championship 2020 last year. There is also no place in the squad for Paris Saint Germain defender Sergio Ramos.

Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta is among five Premier League players included. Brighton’s Robert Sanchez and Brentford’s David Raya are also in the squad, but fellow goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga of Chelsea misses out.

SQUADS

NETHERLANDS

Goalkeepers: Justin Bijlow, Andries Noppert and Remko Pasveer

Defenders: Nathan Ake, Daley Blind, Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries, Jeremie Frimpong, Matthijs de Ligt, Tyrell Malacia, Jurrien Timber and Stefan de Vrij

Midfielders: Steven Berghuis, Frenkie de Jong, Davy Klaassen, Teun Koopmeiners, Marten de Roon, Xavi Simons and Kenneth Taylor

Forwards: Steven Bergwijn, Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo, Vincent Janssen, Luuk de Jong, Noah Lang and Wout Weghorst

SPAIN

Goalkeepers: Unai Simon, Robert Sanchez and David Raya

Defenders: Cesar Azpilicueta, Dani Carvajal, Eric Garcia, Hugo Guillamon, Pau Torres, Aymeric Laporte, Jordi Alba and Jose Gaya

Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Rodri Hernandez, Gavi, Carlos Soler, Marcos Llorente, Pedri Gonzalez and Koke Resurreccion

Forwards: Ferran Torres, Nico Williams, Yeremi Pino, Alvaro Morata, Marco Asensio, Pablo Sarabia, Dani Olmo and Ansu Fati

ARGENTINA

Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez, Franco Armani and Geronimo Rulli

Defenders: Gonzalo Montiel, Nahuel Molina, German Pezzella, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez, Juan Foyth, Nicolas Tagliafico and Marcos Acuna

Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodriguez, Enzo Fernandez, Rodrigo De Paul, Exequiel Palacios, Alejandro Gomez and Alexis Mac Allister

Forwards: Paulo Dybala, Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, Nicolas Gonzalez, Joaquin Correa, Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez

PORTUGAL

Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa, Rui Patricio and Jose Sa

Defenders: Joao Cancelo, Diogo Dalot, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro, Nuno Mendes, Pepe, Danilo Pereira and Antonio Silva

Midfielders: William Carvalho, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Mario, Ruben Neves, Matheus Nunes, Otavio, Joao Palhinha, Bernardo Silva and Vitinha

Forwards: Joao Felix, Ricardo Horta, Rafael Leao, Goncalo Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andre Silva

URUGUAY

Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera, Sergio Rochet and Sebastian Sosa

Defenders: Jose Maria Gimenez, Sebastian Coates, Diego Godin, Martin Caceres, Ronald Araujo, Guillermo Varela, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Mathias Olivera and Matias Vina

Midfielders: Lucas Torreira, Manuel Ugarte, Matias Vecino, Rodrigo Bentancur, Federico Valverde, Facundo Pellistri and Nicolas De La Cruz

Forwards: Agustin Canobbio, Facundo Torres, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Maxi Gomez, Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Darwin Nunez

JAPAN

Goalkeepers: Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt and Eiji Kawashima

Defenders: Miki Yamane, Hiroki Sakai, Maya Yoshida, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Shogo Taniguchi, Ko Itakura, Hiroki Ito and Yuto Nagatomo

Midfielders: Wataru Endo, Hidemasa Morita, Ao Tanaka, Gaku Shibasaki, Kaoru Mitoma, Daichi Kamada, Ritsu Doan, Junya Ito, Takumi Minamino, Takefusa Kubo and Yuki Soma

Forwards: Daizen Maeda, Takuma Asano and Ayase Ueda

SENEGAL

Goalkeepers: Seny Dieng, Alfred Gomis and Edouard Mendy

Defenders: Fode Ballo-Toure, Pape Abdou Cisse, Abdou Diallo, Ismail Jakobs, Kalidou Koulibaly, Formose Mendy and Youssouf Sabaly

Midfielders: Pathe Ciss, Krepin Diatta, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Pape Gueye, Cheikhou Kouyate, Mamadou Loum Ndiaye, Nampalys Mendy, Moustapha Name and Pape Matar Sarr

Forwards: Boulaye Dia, Famara Diedhiou, Bamba Dieng, Nicolas Jackson, Sadio Mane, Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr

SERBIA

Goalkeepers: Marko Dmitrovic, Predrag Rajkovic and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic

Defenders: Stefan Mitrovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Strahinja Pavlovic, Milos Veljkovic, Filip Mladenovic, Strahinja Erakovic and Srdjan Babic

Midfielders: Nemanja Gudelj, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Sasa Lukic, Marko Grujic, Filip Kostic, Uros Racic, Nemanja Maksimovic, Ivan Ilic, Andrija Zivkovic and Darko Lazovic

Forwards: Dusan Tadic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic, Filip Duricic, Luka Jovic and Nemanja Radonji