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Madrid club striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was not included in the preliminary composition of the Dutch national team for the second time, which will play in the 2008 European Championship qualifying matches against Bulgaria and Albania in October.
Olandas, nicknamed the "Goal Machine," has not been part of the plans of head coach Marco van Basten since he did not play in the World Cup quarter-final match against Portugal.
Let's remember that in the middle of this summer, the 31-year-old player left the "Man Utd" team, where he played for five years and scored 158 goals, and moved to the "royal" club.
On October 7, the Netherlands will travel to Bulgaria to face the national team of Bulgaria at the "Vassil Levski" stadium, and after four days they will play against Albania's team at home in the Amsterdam "ArenA" stadium.
Officially, M. van Basten will announce his final team composition on September 29.
Preliminary composition of the Dutch national team:
Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg ("Ajax"), Henk Timmer ("Feyenoord"), Edwin van der Sar ("Man Utd")
Defenders: Urby Emanuelson ("Ajax"), John Heitinga ("Ajax"), Tim de Cler ("AZ"), Kew Jaliens ("AZ"), Giovanni van Bronckhorst ("Barcelona"), Andre Ooijer ("Blackburn"), Khalid Boulahrouz ("Chelsea"), Joris Mathijsen ("Hamburg")
Midfielders: Wesley Sneijder ("Ajax"), Stijn Schaars ("AZ"), Demy de Zeeuw ("AZ"), Nigel de Jong ("HSV"), Denny Landzaat ("Wigan")
Forwards: Ryan Babel ("Ajax"), Klaas Jan Huntelaar ("Ajax"), Robin van Persie ("Arsenal"), Arjen Robben ("Chelsea"), Dirk Kuyt ("Liverpool"), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink ("Celtic")
