(Reuters) – Netherlands forward Lieke Martens has been ruled out of the rest of the women’s European Championship, the country’s football association (KNVB) said on Tuesday, dealing a blow to the defending champions ahead of the knockout stages.
Martens, who helped the Dutch win the title in 2017, was voted the best player at the tournament and also won the UEFA women’s Player of the Year award that year. She also scored twice in the 2019 World Cup where the Dutch were runners-up.
She had been injured but recovered just in time for the tournament but the Netherlands team said she suffered a foot injury during the group stage win over Switzerland.
“This is terrible news for Lieke and for us. She has fully committed herself to the team during this tournament,” Netherlands coach Mark Parsons said.
“It is very unfortunate that her European Championship has to end like this.”
The Netherlands have not been able to play at full strength at the tournament, with their record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema isolating after testing positive for COVID-19.
They play France in the fourth quarter-final on Saturday.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
