Netherlands lose Van Dijk and Brobbey for Nations League games

CAPE TOWN, Nov 9 : Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk and striker Brian Brobbey have withdrawn from the Netherlands squad for their last two Nations League group matches in the next week, the Dutch football association (KNVB) said on Monday.

• Van Dijk played in Liverpool's 3-1 win at Crystal Palace on Sunday, keeping up his record of playing every minute in the Premier League this season, but a KNVB statement said he was not fit

• Van Dijk's previous international appearance, the 2-1 victory over Serbia in early October, was his 100th cap

• Striker Brobbey played for Sunderland in their 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday but is also not fit, according to the association

• Brobbey started the 1-1 draw against Germany at the start of the Nations League campaign in September, but was forced off injured just over half an hour into the match, and missed the subsequent matches against Serbia (twice) and Greece

• No replacements have been called up for the pair, leaving the Netherlands squad with 23 players

• The Dutch are hosting Greece in their Group A clash in Amsterdam on Friday and then go to Berlin to meet Germany on Monday

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)