Bert Van Marwijk Drops Nigel De Jong From Netherlands Squad For Euro 2012 Qualifiers After Leg-Breaking Tackle For Manchester City

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk has made the decision to drop Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong from his squad for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Moldova on Friday and against Sweden on Tuesday week.

De Jong made the headlines for all the wrong reasons on Sunday with a leg-breaking tackle on Newcastle United attacker Hatem Ben Arfa after only four minutes of play. The Olympique Marseille loanee will be sidelined for about six months due to the injury.

The referee didn't consider De Jong's tackle to be a foul and waved play on, but replays of the tackle have led to serious uproar in Holland. The former Hamburg star was even labelled a "criminal" by Dutch pundit Hugo Borst in Studio Voetbal.

"I've informed Nigel that he has been dropped from the team for the matches aginst Moldova and Sweden. I will have a good conversation with him in the near future to discuss this situation," Van Marwijk was quoted as saying by De Telegraaf.

"I have already told the other players in the squad that I saw no other option. We will shift our focus to the upcoming matches again for now."