Clarence Seedorf to skip Euro 2008

AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf will not be making an appearance for his national team at the upcoming European Championships.

Seedorf, who represented the Dutch team 87 times, has been having difficulties with current manager Marco van Basten in recent years.

After having been left out of the squad for two and a half years, the former Ajax, Sampdoria, Inter Milan and Real Madrid player returned to the team but only to be brought on as a substitute five times in ten games.

“I didn’t expect this. I told him that I respect him as a person and a player, but his mind was made up,” said Van Basten.

Seedorf played his first major tournament with the Netherlands in 1996, at the European Championships in England where he missed the eventually deciding penalty in the quarter final shoot-out with France.

But he would grow to be one of the team’s main pilars, having appeared at the Worldcup of 1998 and the European championships of 2000 and 2004. A fourth European championship in a row however, has now been ruled out.