Calf injury knocks De Ligt out of Nations League finals

AMSTERDAM : Defender Matthijs de Ligt suffered a calf injury in training with the Netherlands and on Monday withdrew from the squad for this week's Nations League finals, the Dutch football association said.

The 23-year-old De Ligt, who has won 41 caps, suffered the injury in training on Saturday and is replaced in the 23-man squad by his Bayern Munich team mate Daley Blind.

The Netherlands are hosting the tournament and meet Croatia in the first semi-final in Rotterdam on Wednesday.

Italy and Spain clash in Enschede on Thursday with the winners going to Sunday's final.