Galatasaray midfielder Wesley Sneijder has expressed his disappointment at losing the Netherlands captaincy to Robin van Persie.
Sneijder was named captain of the national side in 2012 but current coach Louis van Gaal s decision to award it to Van Persie has hurt him.
Sneijder has only made three appearances for Netherlands in nine months due to injury problems, missing six matches, and although he acknowledges that is not good enough, he is still disappointed to lose the armband.
It was a pretty painful announcement. Not just because I never saw this coming, but also because I have always given my all in the role as captain. I will have to accept this, though, the player told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
It was a huge blow for me. The coach told me that I should focus on myself for now and use my energy to regain top fitness. I was planning to do that any way, though. I am more eager than ever before.
I know that I have not shown enough recently and that I will have to step it up a notch. But I am confident that I can reach my level from the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 again.
The 29-year-old may also be offloaded by Galatasaray after the club s president Unal Aysal hinted they would be open to offers for the former Inter, Ajax and Real Madrid star, who struggled to impress in the 16 games he played since joining in January.
Sneijder, along with Didier Drogba, helped fire Galatasaray to a record 19th Turkish title and has three years remaining on his contract, but he could be on the move should the right bid be made.
I have been following the rumours about Sneijder, but we have not received an offer for him. If an offer in the region of €15 million comes in, we might decide to sell him, though, Aysal told Turkish newspaper Sabah.
