Van Bommel delight as son is named in Netherlands squad

Sept 18 : New Belgium coach Mark van Bommel was told his son Ruben had earned a first Netherlands call-up while holding a press conference on Friday to announce his own maiden squad.

On a busy day for the Van Bommel household, PSV Eindhoven winger Ruben van Bommel was included in new Netherlands coach Xavi Hernandez’s first squad for Nations League matches later this month.

The Dutch announcement was issued at noon, just as the elder Van Bommel began unveiling his Belgium squad in Tubize. After explaining his selections, he was asked by reporters about his son's call-up.

"Is the squad already known?" Van Bommel replied.

"Do you think I already knew?" he added with a laugh.

"I’m very proud of him, just as every father would be very proud of his son when he is called up for the Dutch national team. I played for the national team myself. That is the highest level you can achieve."

Van Bommel said the call-up was particularly significant after his son's recovery from a cruciate ligament injury.

"It has been a difficult year for him," he said.

"To come back in that way is a great achievement by him."

The 22-year-old has made a strong start to the season at Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven and becomes the third generation of his family to be involved with the Dutch team.

His grandfather Bert van Marwijk, 74, coached the Netherlands to the 2010 World Cup final and his father Mark, 49, won 79 caps and captained the national team. Mark also played in the 2010 final, which the Netherlands lost to Spain in Johannesburg.

Van Bommel's first game in charge of Belgium is away against Italy in Rome on September 25, a day after the Dutch play their first game of the new Nations League campaign against Germany in Amsterdam.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)