Sneijder blames tension for hamstring injury

Netherlands star Wesley Sneijder has blamed the tension of a difficult two weeks for the hamstring injury suffered in the defeat to France.

Galatasaray playmaker Sneijder was replaced by Riechedly Bazoer in the first half of the 3-2 loss in Amsterdam on Friday and has been ruled out of next week’s clash with England.

The occasion proved an emotional one for Dutch football, with the game halted during the 14th minute as part of a tribute to Johan Cruyff, the Ajax and Barcelona great who died this week.

The international friendly fixtures have also been unsettled by security concerns following bomb attacks in Brussels, which came less than two week after similar atrocities took place in Ankara and Istanbul.

And Sneijder believes tension following recent events may have contributed to what he insists is his first muscular injury of the last two seasons.

“I didn’t have any injuries in two and a half years but now I have one,” he told NOS. “These are things that happen. Maybe the tension of last week played a role in it. In Turkey as well, a lot of things happened that have very much had an impact.

“I will have to wait and see how bad it is. I will not be travelling to England. That’s a bummer, but on the other hand it gives younger guys the chance to show what they can do.”