Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk has left the Netherlands squad for “personal reasons” and he won’t play against Estonia.
The Dutch have already qualified automatically for the EURO 2020 finals and a win in their Group C finale would give them a chance of being a top seed for the tournament.
In a statement on the Dutch FA (KNVB) website, they confirmed VVD won’t play for Ronald Koeman’s Oranje on Tuesday in Amsterdam.
“The captain of the Dutch national team has to let go of the game due to personal circumstances and has since left the Orange training camp,” said the KNVB.
Van Dijk, 28, has led the Dutch redemption story under Koeman, as he was installed as skipper by his former manager at Southampton and has since gone on to be named among the top three players on the planet and was named Man of the Match in Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League final success against Tottenham in June.
The defensive lynchpin of the Premier League leaders had led the Dutch national team to their first major tournament since the 2014 World Cup and has restored some pride to the program after they failed to qualify for each of the last two major tournaments.
Liverpool travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday (Watch live, 10 a.m. ET online via NBCSports.com) and Jurgen Klopp’s defensive leader will now be well rested.
Whatever is going on with VVD’s absence it does allow him to have a few extra days off ahead of a gruelling set of games in November and December as Liverpool compete in the PL, Champions League, Club World Cup and League Cup.