Louis van Gaal has indicated Aston Villa winger Anwar El Ghazi could make his first Netherlands appearance in six years after an impressive run of form in the Premier League, speaking to Voetbal International.
A lot has changed since the one-time Ajax starlet last pulled on that iconic Oranje shirt, in October 2015.
Wesley Sneijder was on the scoresheet during a 2-1 win at Kazakhstan all those years ago, a game in which Robin van Persie and Ibrahim Afellay also featured while Vurnon Anita – then of Newcastle United – watched on from the bench.
Six years is a long time in football and, while El Ghazi may not have lived up to lofty expectations at the Amsterdam Arena, the former Lille man can be proud of the reputation he’s carved in English football.
El Ghazi scored 11 goals in all competitions as Villa comfortably avoided a relegation battle last season.
In fact, there was a brief spell around Christmas when the 26-year-old could conceivably claim to have been the most in-form attacker in the Premier League.
And a return to the national team is fitting reward for a man who has succeeded in getting his career back on track during the past 18 months or so.
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Aston Villa star El Ghazi wants to play in the 2022 World Cup
El Ghazi was left out of Van Gaal’s squad for the September international break but, according to the former Manchester United and Barcelona boss, will be included ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifiers with Latvia and Gibraltar.
“We don’t actually have a shadow player for (Ajax winger Steven) Berghuis, so we’ll look at El Ghazi,” Van Gaal says, offering an opportunity to a man who was chopped from Frank de Boer’s Euro 2020 squad at the last minute.
Given the respective qualities of Latvia and Gibraltar, don’t bet against El Ghazi scoring his first international goal since he was playing in the U23s alongside the likes of Nathan Ake and Timothy Fosu-Mensah.
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