Barcelona and Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong has assured he is back to full fitness after “throwing up a lot” and missing his club’s last match.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the Netherlands’ Nations League quarter-final first leg against Spain on Thursday, De Jong confirmed he is ready and capable of playing the full 90 minutes.
“I feel good and fit. I don’t know if it was something I ate, but I had to throw up a lot in a short time. Now I’m fully recovered. I can play the full 90 minutes. My ankle doesn’t bother me anymore, I don’t think about it. It’s out of my head,” De Jong told reporters.
The Dutch midfielder also joked about the atmosphere in Barcelona’s dressing room, where there has been plenty of banter about the upcoming international clash, but he remains confident in his national team’s chances.
“There are always jokes flying around, from both sides. They’re very confident, but so are we. In the dressing rooms, everything is a bit exaggerated. We have a top team and we need to play well,” he said.
When asked about his Barcelona teammate and Spain international Lamine Yamal, De Jong praised his quality and insisted that stopping him would have to be a team effort.
“It’s not just one person’s job to stop Lamine Yamal. We have to do it as a team. We have very good players. Any player can be stopped,” the midfielder added.