Kuyt eyes Euro spot

Reds ace out to impress Van Basten

Last updated: 7th May 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Kuyt eyes Euro spot

Kuyt: Hopeful of Dutch inclusion

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Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt is aiming to continue his recent good run of form to cement a place in Holland coach Marco van Basten's Euro 2008 squad.

Kuyt has been included in Van Basten's provisional 30-man group, which will be trimmed down to 26 players on 16th May and then cut to 23 by 28th May.

The former Feyenoord man was left out of the squad at the back end of the qualifying campaign, but he has regained his place in the party after impressing recently for Liverpool.

Kuyt is determined to make the final squad for the tournament in Austria and Swizterland.

"I first hoped to be part of the first 30 players. Now I of course want to go to Euro 2008 too," Kuyt told Radio 538 show Evers Staat Op.

"I hope Marco van Basten will keep on thinking about me now. I must show it on the field and I think I did that in the last games.

"But it is of course not easy for the coach. We have many good strikers, but I think I am a fine addition to the squad.

"It happens only once every four years. It was no fun to me to not be selected for some games after three years. But I still hope to be there."

Kuyt admits, however, that he has not had contact with Van Basten for some time and discovered he was part of the provisional Oranje party on Teletext.

"That has happened for years," he said. "Through Teletext you hear if you are in or out.

"It seems that he (Van Basten) was at the Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool. He did speak with Ryan Babel afterwards, I missed out on him."

The 27-year-old believes that he is peak form after a slow start to the campaign for personal reasons.

"I myself feel I am in good form. I had a lesser period, because of personal things. But I have put that behind me and it's going fine again now," concluded Kuyt.