Sepp van den Berg has earned his first senior Netherlands national team call-up. The Brentford centre-back is part of the Oranje squad for the UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and Germany this month.
He is one of 21 Brentford players named in international squads or placed on standby during this break. Seven Bees are involved in Nations League action specifically.
International fixtures
The Netherlands face Greece on Friday 13 November before playing Germany away on Monday 16 November. Van den Berg will hope to make his debut in one of these competitive fixtures.
Other Brentford players on duty include Michael Kayode with Italy, Mikkel Damsgaard and Mathias Jensen with Denmark, and Kristoffer Ajer with Norway. Aaron Hickey is with Scotland, while Caoimhín Kelleher and Nathan Collins are with the Republic of Ireland. Further afield, Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Benjamin Fredrick (Nigeria), and Ji-soo Kim (South Korea) are among those representing their countries.
Brentford context
The call-ups come as Brentford sit eighth in the Premier League with 14 points from 10 games, a record of three wins and five draws from their opening ten matches. They are 13 points behind leaders Arsenal in the title race. Their most recent outing was a 2-0 defeat away to Brighton on 8 November, a result that extended their recent form to one win, one draw and three defeats in their last five matches. This run includes the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on 31 October, where an own goal and a strike from Igor Thiago secured the points, but also losses to Sunderland and Liverpool. Across the season, the team has scored 16 goals and conceded 11 for a positive goal difference of five.
The squad will reconvene after the international window to prepare for a Premier League return against Everton at home on 23 November. Everton are currently sixth, setting up a key match at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Van den Berg's selection is a significant personal milestone as he joins the senior setup of a nation currently competing in the Nations League's top tier.
More detail at brentfordfc.com
The Dutch football association confirmed on Tuesday that Sepp van den Berg's call-up came as a direct replacement for captain Virgil van Dijk. Van Dijk withdrew from the squad on Monday due to injury, the KNVB stated. The 24-year-old Brentford defender, in his third season at the club, was called up after the Liverpool defender's withdrawal. Striker Brian Brobbey also pulled out of the Netherlands squad on Monday. The Netherlands host Greece on Friday.
