Holland coach Marco van Basten has claimed Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt was not worthy of a place in his latest Dutch squad.
The 27-year-old has been omitted from the 21-man party named on Friday for the friendly against Croatia on February 6.
Van Basten, who will step down from his post after Euro 2008, had named Kuyt in a provisional squad of 27, but the former Feyenoord forward did not make the cut for the clash at the Poljud Stadium in Split.
The coach criticised his performances for Liverpool which have seen him score just seven times this season and fail to find the net in his last 11 games.
Van Basten told reporters: "The system we had can be compared with Liverpool's... and his performances are not good enough."
The AC Milan legend gave Kuyt, who has racked up 35 caps, his debut in 2004, but his omission signals a change of system for Holland.
"We will now move on with a sort of 4-2-3-1 system," van Basten added.
Holland have four further friendlies - against Austria, Ukraine, Denmark and Wales - before they kick off their European Championship campaign, but with Van Basten opting to go for just up one front, Kuyt's chances of an international return before the summer look bleak.
There was though good news for Ibrahim Afellay, Denny Landzaat and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who are all back in the squad after lengthy absences.
PSV Eindhoven star Afellay and Feyenoord's Landzaat return after five-month absences, while Celtic striker Vennegoor of Hesselink has been out of favour for six months.
Afellay and Vennegoor of Hesselink were last part of the national set-up in September for their Euro 2008 qualifying double-header against Bulgaria and Albania, while Landzaat, who moved back to his homeland from Premier League side Wigan in the transfer window, was last involved in a friendly with Switzerland in August.
But with Holland drawn in the toughest group at Euro 2008 alongside France, Italy and Romania, Van Basten does not see the Croatia game as a chance to experiment.
He told uefa.com: "Croatia's a friendly match so in that sense the result is of less importance, but obviously we want to practice as well as we can so we have to take this match seriously."
Other members of the provisional party who have not been called up by Van Basten are Danny Koevermans, Urby Emanuelson, Kew Jaliens, Hedwiges Maduro and Henk Timmer
Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben were not included because of injury.
The 27-year-old has been omitted from the 21-man party named on Friday for the friendly against Croatia on February 6.
Van Basten, who will step down from his post after Euro 2008, had named Kuyt in a provisional squad of 27, but the former Feyenoord forward did not make the cut for the clash at the Poljud Stadium in Split.
The coach criticised his performances for Liverpool which have seen him score just seven times this season and fail to find the net in his last 11 games.
Van Basten told reporters: "The system we had can be compared with Liverpool's... and his performances are not good enough."
The AC Milan legend gave Kuyt, who has racked up 35 caps, his debut in 2004, but his omission signals a change of system for Holland.
"We will now move on with a sort of 4-2-3-1 system," van Basten added.
Holland have four further friendlies - against Austria, Ukraine, Denmark and Wales - before they kick off their European Championship campaign, but with Van Basten opting to go for just up one front, Kuyt's chances of an international return before the summer look bleak.
There was though good news for Ibrahim Afellay, Denny Landzaat and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who are all back in the squad after lengthy absences.
PSV Eindhoven star Afellay and Feyenoord's Landzaat return after five-month absences, while Celtic striker Vennegoor of Hesselink has been out of favour for six months.
Afellay and Vennegoor of Hesselink were last part of the national set-up in September for their Euro 2008 qualifying double-header against Bulgaria and Albania, while Landzaat, who moved back to his homeland from Premier League side Wigan in the transfer window, was last involved in a friendly with Switzerland in August.
But with Holland drawn in the toughest group at Euro 2008 alongside France, Italy and Romania, Van Basten does not see the Croatia game as a chance to experiment.
He told uefa.com: "Croatia's a friendly match so in that sense the result is of less importance, but obviously we want to practice as well as we can so we have to take this match seriously."
Other members of the provisional party who have not been called up by Van Basten are Danny Koevermans, Urby Emanuelson, Kew Jaliens, Hedwiges Maduro and Henk Timmer
Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben were not included because of injury.
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