THE HAGUE: Veteran striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy looks set to miss out on the World Cup finals after he was left out of the squad called up for a training camp on Monday.The 33-year-old Hamburg forward – scorer of 33 goals in his 64 international appearances – can only hope to play in his second World Cup finals if one of the strikers selected by coach Bert Van Marwijk is injured prior to the June 1 deadline for the final squad to be announced.
Van Nistelrooy, who joined Hamburg midway through the season from Real Madrid, had recently indicated that he would like to end his self-imposed exile from the national squad.
This first training camp for players, whose season has come to an end will take place at Hoenderlo from May 10-14 while a second one with those players still involved with their clubs will be held in Austria on May 19.
Among those who will be allowed to miss out on the first camp are Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Mark van Bommel as they are preparing for the Champions League final on May 22 between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.
AC Milan’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart of Real Madrid have also been given the green light to miss the first camp.
Van Marwijk will announce a squad of 30 players before finalising his 23 on June 1.
The Dutch – who have yet to win the World Cup despite reaching two finals in 1974 and 1978 – have been drawn with Denmark, Japan and Cameroon for the finals which gets under way on June 11 and runs till July 11. — AFP