Barcelona star to return to the international stage after 433 days | OneFootball

It is a big step for any FC Barcelona star to find a position within their country’s National team as well. Irrespective of what any player manages to accomplish at club level, the desire to perform for their country always remains strong. For that exact reason, even for Barcelona players, being called up for any international games is a massive deal.

Unfortunately for some players, timings and circumstances can prevent them from having the kind of impact for their country as they would have hoped. For 27-year-old Barcelona captain Frenkie de Jong, that is exactly the kind of reality that he had to work with.

Since September of last year, the Dutch midfielder has not made a single official appearance for the Netherlands National team. Moreover, despite his best attempt to feature for his country in the latest edition of the European Championship, he was once again unable to feature for Ronald Koeman’s team.

The reason behind this absence from the international stage is none other than the fact that he has been dealing with injuries in the most unfortunate of ways. At various stages whenever there was an intentional break in sight, the Dutchman would be dealing with an injury that he could not recover from in time.

Now, after almost more than a year, exactly 433 days later, the Barcelona captain is finally set to make an appearance for the Dutch National team again. As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, the midfielder is currently fully fit and his availability is aligned with his recent call-up for the upcoming international break.

Ronald Koeman has called him up for the two upcoming games against Hungary on the 16th of November and against Bosnia on the 19th of November for the UEFA Nations League. It is expected that the Barcelona midfielder will feature in those games to some extent.

Previously, the player’s rather rough 2023/2024 season left him completely out of the plans that his National team coaches had. First, he suffered an injury in September of 2023 that led to him missing the international games in October and November of that year. Right afterwards, he was injured once again in a game against Athletic Club in March of 2024, resulting in him missing the subsequent games once more.

After that injury, he made a return in April and despite promising early signs, he was once again injured while playing against Real Madrid at the end of the same month and that ankle injury kept him out for much longer. Now, however, he seems to be finally back and this upcoming international break should finally give him the chance he has been waiting for.