Concussion sidelines Netherlands' Quinten Timber ahead of Sweden World Cup clash

The Dutch national team confirmed that Timber had suffered a mild concussion during Thursday's session after a collision with teammate Teun Koopmeiners. Medical staff assessed the 25-year-old immediately and decided he would not be available for selection.

Koopmeiners explained how the incident happened during training.

"When Quinten had the ball, I made a run in behind," Koopmeiners told Dutch media. "He wanted to chip the ball over to me and then it happened. It was not a really hard collision, as far as I understand, but you have to be careful with these things."

The injury came just days after Timber celebrated his 25th birthday and after he had featured as a substitute in the Netherlands' opening 2-2 draw against Japan.

Timber had only joined up with the Dutch squad late after being involved with Arsenal during their Champions League final preparations. He was also forced to miss a warm-up friendly against Uzbekistan in New York after withdrawing from the squad shortly before the match.

The midfielder's absence adds to the Netherlands' injury concerns, with his twin brother Jurrien Timber already ruled out of the tournament because of a groin problem.

The Netherlands entered their Group F campaign alongside Japan, Sweden and Tunisia, and manager Ronald Koeman will now have to consider other options as his team looks to secure a positive result against Sweden.

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