Kluivert says he is not dwelling on abuse after World Cup penalty miss

Justin Kluivert says he is not dwelling on the abusive and racist messages he received after missing a penalty for the Netherlands at the World Cup, as he returns to the national squad for two decisive Nations League matches.

The 27-year-old attacking midfielder was speaking before the team’s first training session ahead of games against Greece and Germany. It was his first call-up since his missed spot-kick against Morocco.

“That penalty did get to me for a while,” Kluivert said. “I did almost everything right, but the ball hit the post. That’s not how I had imagined the World Cup.”

The Netherlands were knocked out in the round of 16 after Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville all missed from the penalty spot. The Dutch football association, the KNVB, filed a police complaint after the three players received a large volume of insulting and racist responses on social media.

Kluivert said he had seen unpleasant messages but was not particularly troubled by them. “Most fans are fortunately not like that,” he said. “There’s no point spending too much time on it. Then I wouldn’t be standing here now. I noticed that already during my time at Ajax.”