Netherlands icon: England’s UEFA Nations League chances 'hampered by Champions League final'
Former Netherlands captain Ruud Gullit thinks the timing of the UEFA Nations League matches will be detrimental to England and the Netherlands.
The semi-finals kick off in Portugal just four days after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final.
Between the two clubs who played for Europe’s showpiece prize in Madrid, ten players in total featured who we can expect to see in the Nations League matches.
But Gullit feels the players need more time to recover.
“It’s the end of the season, people want to go on a holiday,” Gullit told Yahoo Sport exclusively at the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by Heineken.
“They're not going to play 100%. It's impossible, because your mind is switched up. The ones who come from Liverpool [and Tottenham], they’re exhausted and they need to rest.”
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Sunday’s final in Madrid featured seven players named in Gareth Southgate’s 23-man England squad, and two from the Netherlands.
Gullit, who lifted the European Championship for the Dutch in 1988, thinks England and Netherlands in particular are at a disadvantage.
He added: “There are English players and Dutch players [from Liverpool and Tottenham]... The timing of the final it’s very difficult [for the players] to peak again.
“And you need to [peak] but you want to… you need to go on a holiday because your body needs it. So it's going to be tough.”
From the four Nations League semi-finalists - England, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland - Tottenham had four players featuring at Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano Stadium; Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Harry Kane (all England).
Victorious Liverpool, in addition, had six players: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson (all England), Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum (both Netherlands), and Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland).
Portugal were the only Nations League semi-finalist not to field a player in club football’s showpiece event. Star and captain Cristiano Ronaldo was eliminated from the competition in the last eight after his Juventus side were stunned by Ajax.
Portugal face Switzerland in the first Nations League semi-final on Wednesday in Porto, while England play Netherlands on Thursday in Guimarães. The final takes play Sunday 9 June at the Estadio do Dragão.
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