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In 2005, the "Liverpool" club, which won the UEFA Champions League tournament, suffered serious losses - their new striker, Dutchman Dirk Kuyt, suffered an injury during a match with Bulgaria in the 2008 European Championship qualifying cycle. Despite this, the player continues to play for the national team, which caused dissatisfaction with "Reds" strategist Rafael Benitez.
The 26-year-old player, who played only 16 minutes in the 1-1 match with Bulgaria, left the field limping, as it is believed he suffered a shin injury.
The head coach of the Dutch national team, Marco van Basten, is concerned and believes that the former Rotterdam "Feyenoord" attacking leader will miss the Wednesday meeting with Albania.
"The lower part of his leg doesn't look very good," said coach M. van Basten.
Kuyt's club "Liverpool" hopes that the player will be healthy and will be able to help his team at Anfield Stadium next Saturday in the 8th round of the English Premier League.
"If there are doubts about Dirk's performance in Wednesday's match with Albania, then he is not healthy enough. They are talking and considering whether the player will be able to play. If they allow him to play, he may miss three or four matches of the "Liverpool" team," the angry manager of the English club R. Benitez said.
The strategist also believes that clubs should receive compensation if their team members suffer injuries while representing their national teams.
"If Kuyt misses many matches and Peter Crouch suffers an injury, it means that we may not win as many matches as we could," added the disappointed specialist from Spain. - "Last season we had a situation where John Arne Riise was injured while playing for Norway, and therefore did not participate in the UEFA Champions League match against Benfica."
"Where was our compensation? National football federations must pay. I believe they should pay 50% of the player's salary for representing their national teams, and 100% if they suffer injuries, for as long as they cannot play matches. As a coach, I would rather have Dirk healthy than receive compensation, but this is a huge problem," said the coach.
At the end of August, the player left the Dutch "Feyenoord" team, which he represented 101 times and scored 71 goals, and moved to "Liverpool" for £10 million. In this team, the Dutchman played six matches and scored twice.
