Koeman names 5 newcomers in his first Netherlands squad

Published

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) New coach Ronald Koeman has named five uncapped players in the Netherlands squad for his first international in charge, signaling that he is going to shake up a team that failed to qualify for two consecutive major tournaments.

The newcomers named Friday in Koeman's 25-man squad include 18-year-old Ajax winger Justin Kluivert, the son of former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert.

Koeman's other new names were AZ Alkmaar players Marco Bizot, Guus Til and Wout Weghorst and Hans Hateboer of Atalanta.

The Netherlands takes on England on March 23 in Amsterdam and Portugal three days later in Geneva.

With the Dutch having failed to qualify for this year's World Cup in Russia, Koeman has time to experiment as he seeks his strongest team.