Duo reject Holland international call

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mark van Bommel have rejected call-ups from Holland coach Marco van Basten ahead of the forthcoming Euro…

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mark van Bommel have rejected call-ups from Holland coach Marco van Basten ahead of the forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Van Bommel was initially selected in the squad, named on Friday, for the matches against Bulgaria and Albania.

That decision surprised many after the coach had made it clear following Holland's World Cup exit the Bayern Munich midfielder had no further part to play in the national side.

Those comments seem to have stuck with Van Bommel as he turned down Van Basten.

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"Van Bommel does not want to play for Holland any more under the current coaching staff," a statement from the KNVB said.

It has also emerged Van Basten made a phone call to Van Nistelrooy over the weekend in a bid to bring him into the squad as a replacement for the injured Klaas Jan Huntelaar.

This was another surprising move considering the Real Madrid striker's recent criticism of the coaching staff but it was not unexpected that talks between the two men did not progress any further.

"After the telephone contact it became clear that both the technical staff of Oranje and Van Nistelrooy lack the confidence that the striker can be added to the group as a replacement for Huntelaar," the KNVB statement continued.