Frenkie de Jong returned to the Netherlands squad after a knee injury as the team prepared for Nations League matches against Greece on Friday and Germany on Monday. The possibility of De Jong and Joey Veerman starting together was being considered, although they play in the same midfield position and had only briefly shared the pitch for the national team in the past.

Veerman had started the Netherlands’ previous three internationals as the deepest midfielder and had also become a regular starter for Borussia Dortmund. De Jong had recently returned to action for Barcelona, where he had played in several positions, but the expected preference was for him to operate in his usual midfield role for the Netherlands, either alongside Veerman or instead of him.