Dutch boss Van Marwijk trims squad

Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk unveiled his 23-man World Cup squad yesterday, with four home-based players missing the trip to South Africa.

The quartet who failed to survive the axe from Van Marwijk's preliminary list of 27 were Orlando Engelaar (PSV Eindhoven), Vurnon Anita (Ajax), Jeremain Lens (AZ Alkmaar) and Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord).

Defender Vlaar's World Cup hopes ended on Tuesday when he suffered an injury at the squad's Austrian training camp, forcing him out of Wednesday's 2-1 warm-up win against Mexico.

Engelaar and Anita failed to impress in the Mexico win while Lens faced stiff opposition for a place in Holland's attack.

One who survived yesterday's cull was Liverpool striker Ryan Babel despite the ankle problem he suffered in training last Friday.

"He's once again fine to play," assured Van Marwijk, who also gave the thumbs-up to Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong, who had been complaining at the start of the week of a knee injury.

Holland claimed victory over Mexico in Freiburg thanks to a double strike from Arsenal striker Robin van Persie.

The Dutch face Denmark, Japan and Cameroon in the first round group stage in South Africa next month.

Final Squad

Goalkeepers:
Vorm (FC Utrecht), Stekelenburg (Ajax), Boschker (FC Twente).

Defenders:
Boulahrouz (Stuttgart), Heitinga (Everton), Mathijsen (Hamburg), Ooijer (PSV), Van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Van der Wiel (Ajax), Braafheid (Celtic).

Midfielders:
Afellay (PSV), De Jong (Manchester City), Sneijder (Inter), Schaars (Alkmaar), De Zeeuw (Ajax), Van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Van der Vaart (Real Madrid).

Forwards:
Babel (Liverpool), Elia (Hamburg), Huntelaar (Milan), Kuyt (Liverpool), Van Persie (Arsenal), Robben (Bayern Munich).