Donny van de Beek

Van de Beek set for first game since United transfer

Friday 04 September 2020 08:00

It may be a little over two weeks until Manchester United begin our 2020/21 season, but supporters might not have to wait that long to see Donny van de Beek in action.

In fact, the Reds’ new recruit could play tonight (Friday) when the Netherlands begin their Nations League campaign with a home clash against Poland.

Donny was part of the squad who finished as runners-up to Bruno Fernandes’s Portugal in the finals of the inaugural tournament in 2019, and he and his Oranje team-mates will be hoping to go one better this time.

Ahead of van de Beek’s potential first game since Wednesday’s announcement of his signing from Ajax, we’ve got all the key details here…
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MATCH INFO

The Netherlands face a first match in nearly 10 months when they welcome the Poles to Amsterdam. In that time, manager Ronald Koeman has moved to Barcelona, meaning interim boss Dwight Lodeweges will be in the dugout for the home side.

Friday’s encounter, which kicks off at 19:45 BST, will take place at the same time as Italy v Bosnia and Herzegovina, who both join the Netherlands and Poland in League A Group 1 of the Nations League.

While the Dutch have failed to qualify for the last two major tournaments, they comfortably secured a place at next summer’s European Championships by finishing second in their qualification group.

Holland won six of their eight games and will be hoping to bring that excellent form into the Nations League campaign.
HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE MATCH?

We’ll be providing live updates on the game in our Official App and our international blog on ManUtd.com.

Check it out for the latest team news, match galleries and other updates from United’s international stars.

The match will be shown live in the UK on the Sky Sports Premier League channel. Meanwhile, Scott McTominay is expected to feature in Scotland’s outing against Israel at the same time, on Sky Sports Main Event.
VAN DE BEEK’S INTERNATIONAL CAREER

After progressing thorough the various youth ranks with the Netherlands, Donny made his senior debut in 2017 during a 3-0 friendly victory over Romania. The 23-year-old has gone on to earn a further nine caps for the Dutch, the last one coming in November’s 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland.

Despite only emerging on the international stage in recent times, the midfielder has established himself as a vital part of the Netherlands set-up. Donny was rested for his country’s last match, but played in five of the previous seven and only missed the other two though injury.

However, our new signing isn’t guaranteed a starting berth at the Johan Cruyff ArenA on Friday, given that his last competitive match was nearly six months ago.

WHAT’S NEXT?

After facing Poland this Friday evening, van de Beek and co are at home again on Monday night. Their opponents Italy, the 2006 World Cup winners, secured maximum points in their Euro 2020 qualifiers and conceded just four goals in those 10 games.

The two European heavyweights last locked horns during a friendly in June 2018, which finished 1-1.

Like all international games featuring United players, you’ll be able to follow their progress in our international blog.

Get ready for next season. Our 2020/21 home and away kits are available now from United Direct.

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