Micky van de Ven became the latest Tottenham player to pick up a knock on international duty, after being trodden on in the Netherlands’ Nations League game against Serbia. Luka Jovic landed on his left arm following a challenge for the ball in the closing minutes of Sunday’s match. Van de Ven stayed on the ground holding his left hand in obvious pain.
Captain Virgil van Dijk rushed over to check on his team-mate, and two members of the Dutch medical staff soon joined him. After assessing the injury, they helped Van de Ven off the pitch. Head coach Xavi had already used his fifth and final substitution a few minutes earlier, so the Netherlands finished the game with ten men, but they held on for a 2-1 win.
The result puts the Dutch top of Group A2, ahead of Greece on goals scored. They have also avoided direct relegation to League B, since they can no longer finish below Serbia, who have no points.
Speaking at his post-match press conference in Eindhoven, the former Barcelona coach played down the problem. He said Van de Ven felt dizzy because of a finger injury, and that it wasn’t serious.
The Spurs captain is the second Tottenham defender to be stepped on in a Nations League game against Serbia this break. Jan Paul van Hecke suffered the same fate a week earlier in the reverse fixture in Belgrade. He stayed on to see out that 2-1 win, but lasted just seven minutes of an open training session in Zeist before he was spotted talking to Xavi. He then sat in the dugout for the rest of the session, and his withdrawal was announced soon afterwards.
Van Hecke went back to Spurs rather than travel to Thessaloniki for the Greece match. He had started the first two Nations League games alongside Van de Ven.
Xavi explained that someone had stepped on Van Hecke during the Serbia game and he hadn’t noticed at the time, but afterwards he was in too much pain to play. The defender was desperate to try, the coach said, which is why the decision to remove him from the squad came late. He took part in recovery training on Tuesday and tried again on Wednesday, but couldn’t even touch the ball.
