Roord back in Oranje after serious knee pain: ‘I dealt with it very mentally’

“Once you’ve been away for a while, you realize how special it is to be here. I missed it a lot.”

Jill Roord appears today at the training of the Dutch national team in Zeist with a big smile. The Manchester City player suffered a serious knee injury in December. “I’ve been here since I was seventeen and I’ve hardly ever missed anything. If you’re not here for a long time, it’s very strange. I’m very happy.”

Now the 98-time international is back in the Netherlands squad for the first time for two friendlies heading into next year’s Nations League and European Championship. The first match in Doetinchem will be against Indonesia next Friday, followed by an away match against Denmark a week later on 29 October.

Due to his injury, the 27-year-old midfielder not only had to miss City’s matches in England, but also the Netherlands’ matches with Spain and Germany in the Nations League and matches European Championship qualifiers.

After eight months of rehabilitation, Roord brought her back to her club. “I don’t think the club or the Dutch team expected me to be here so soon.

How was her healing so fast? She gets that question often. “What helped me a lot is that I handled it well mentally,” said the midfielder. “I’m an optimistic person anyway. I had something right away: I don’t want to be down. Now I have time to work on things I never have time for.”

She mentions: going to the gym, running, training both legs, finishing. But isn’t that just part of her normal training when she’s not injured?

“The calendar is so full, you have so many competitions, that it is difficult to find a balance between rest and training. Now I had time for that.

Roord saw that overtime as a big boost for her comeback. “I want to come back quickly, but above all I want to come back really well and I think that has helped me a lot. “

National coach Andries Jonker is happy that Roord is back. “Jill is a great player. She is already impressing Manchester City, so I am very happy that she is returning to the Dutch national team,” he said. earlier.