Marco van Basten's Orange have hit a run of inuries and has been forced to call midfielders Nigel de Jong from Hamburg SV and AZ Alkmaar's Stijn Schaars to the World Cup training camp in Hinterzarten.

Even though they were already without SV Hamburg’s talented midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who is still an injury doubt for the Oranje, Van Basten's team received the added injuries during their World Cup warm-up friendly against Australia.

The midfield pair of PSV Eindhoven’s Philip Cocu suffered a thigh injury and Ajax’s Wesley Sneijder, who fell to an ankle strain, are now both doubts for their fitness, with Barcelona defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst limping off with a similar injury in the game against the hard-tackling Australian’s.

AZ Alkmaar Kew Jaliens is also carrying an injury and van Basten has put the two players on standby, knowing that he has the ability to change players with more than 24 hours before their opening match.

De Jong was left out of the original squad because of a knee operation, but has now made a full recovery, whilst Schaars - the captain of the Dutch under-21 side who won the European under-21 championship last weekend - will be in the running for a place in the Oranje squad.

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