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HSV ace to miss World Cup

May 28, 2014

Hamburg's captain and the most capped current Dutch player has failed to convince the management that he has overcome his fitness issues and will miss the trip to Brazil with a calf injury.

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Fußball Bundesliga 17. Spieltag Hamburger SV gegen FSV Mainz 05
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has been ruled out of the World Cup with a calf injury, the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) confirmed on Wednesday. Head coach Louis van Gaal decided to leave the experienced player out of the squad.

The 31-year-old is the most capped player (109) in the provisional squad, which will be cut down to the final 23-man group that must be confirmed by Monday.

In a re-match of the 2010 World Cup final, Netherlands will face Spain in their opening group-stage game, before facing Chile and Australia.

Van der Vaart, who returned to Hamburg in 2012, had been part of the training camp over the last week-and-a-half. He sustained the calf injury at the end of the domestic season, where Hamburg barely avoided Bundesliga relegation.

"It feels like being liberated coming to the camp after such a season at HSV," the midfielder said earlier this week. "When you come to the national team, the level is higher and there are players who have won titles. The mood is positive and I enjoy it here."

Van der Vaart remained coy over his future at HSV when speaking at the Netherlands training camp in Laos, Portugal. There has been interest from Besiktas, among others, as the club looks to reshuffle its ranks for next season.

"I feel happy at HSV," he said. "But sometimes you don't get to decide."

rd/jh (dpa, SID, Reuters)