MAY 12 — Liverpool and Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk has said he has made the difficult decision to skip next month’s European Championship in a bid to fully recover from his season-ending knee injury.

Van Dijk, who was injured in the Premier League Merseyside derby against Everton in October, has been sidelined ever since after undergoing surgery and the 29-year-old said he was "gutted” to miss out on the Euros.

"With everything that is going on, I feel physically it is the right decision that I’ve decided not to go to the Euros and to go into my last phase of rehab during the off-season,” the Dutch defender told the Liverpool website.

"Obviously I am very gutted to miss the Euros, to miss the European Championship and leading out my own country there, but things have been like they have and I have to accept it.”

Netherlands are in Group C along with Ukraine, Austria, North Macedonia, and are scheduled to play their three group games in Amsterdam. — Reuters