Ibrahim Afellay: “It’s great to be back at the Oranje”

Ibrahim Afellay is away with the Dutch national team this week for two friendly matches against Italy on Saturday and Paraguay four days later. KNVB TV spoke to the PSV midfielder. “It’s great to be back at the Oranje and I hope I will meet expectations”, said Afellay.

“I am fully match fit”
KNVB TV spoke to Ibrahim Afellay after a training session of the Dutch team. When Fred Rutten was appointed head coach at PSV, he played Afellay as a deep holding midfielder, which is not a new role for the international, who is nicknamed Ibi. “I played as a holding midfielder for nearly two years when Hiddink was in charge at PSV. I am relishing my new role. I need all-around skills to perform both defensive and attacking duties as well as possible. Being a box-to-box player is physically demanding. But I am fully match fit”, explains Afellay. “Of course it’s been a frustrating experience to be sidelined due to injuries. It’s great to be back at the Oranje and I hope I will meet expectations”, concluded Afellay.