Injury forces Boerrigter to withdraw

Derk Boerrigter was left to bemoan his luck after being forced to withdraw from the Netherlands squad for this Friday's match against Switzerland. The Ajax winger was in line for his senior international bow after being surprisingly called up for coach Bert van Marwijk's 23-man squad last week, but a back problem has now forced the 25-year-old to return to his club. Friday's match will be staged at Ajax's own Amsterdam ArenA, and Boerrigter was crestfallen to miss out on the chance to shine at a venue where he has performed impressively this season. "I'm very disappointed," Boerrigter told Voetbal International. "This was the chance to show myself to coach Bert van Marwijk, but I cannot do anything about it." Boerrigter, who earned his call-up after a series of strong performances for Ajax, aggravated the injury in his side's thrilling 6-4 defeat to FC Utrecht at the weekend. "It's been two months with a sore back hanging around, but it was never so bad that I could not play football," he continued. "But this time it was really bad. We, the medical staff of Oranje and I, had no confidence that the problem would heal quickly and that I could be of value. Hence we have decided that the best thing would be to leave training. Now I'm back at home and tomorrow will return to Ajax." The injury has also ruled Boerrigter out of next Tuesday's friendly away to Germany, meaning it will now be into the new year before he can hope to again be considered for national team selection. Van Marwijk has moved quickly to fill the gap left by Boerrigter's withdrawal, calling up AZ Alkmaar forward Roy Beerens for the first time since he made his debut in a friendly against Ukraine in August 2010. Meanwhile, the Dutch are sweating on the fitness of Klaas Jan Huntelaar. The Schalke striker, the top scorer in the UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying phase, is still struggling with a double nose fracture suffered in an accidental clash with a team-mate in last week's UEFA Europa League encounter with Larnaca. The injury ruled Huntelaar out of Sunday's Bundesliga match against Hannover, but both Van Marwijk and the player are hopeful a protective mask will allow him to play some part in the upcoming friendlies.