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We now know the reason as to why the Dutch midfielder was taken off at halftime. As Juventus emerged from the dressing room at halftime on Sunday afternoon, there was one very noticeable absence from the squad decked out in their very yellow kits ? Dutch midfielder Teun Koopmeiners. As we came to know, Koopmeiners not coming out for the second half was something related to an injury, nothing to do with performance or tactics.
The extent of that knock wasn?t exactly known.
But it very much could be now after Koopmeiners has been forced to withdraw from international duty with the Netherlands right at the start of the October break.
According to reports from La Repubblica and La Gazzetta dello Sport (via JuventusNews24.com), Koopmeiners is currently suffering from a partially broken (or cracked) rib. It was an injury he first suffered late in the win last Wednesday night against RB Leipzig, but was able to soldier through it to prevent Juventus from going down to nine men as they defended their slim lead. But this past Sunday afternoon, the rib injury retuned at some point in the first half against Cagliari, with La Repubblica going so far as saying Koopmeiners was having trouble breathing and that is why Thiago Motta was forced into a change at the half when he brought on Nicolo Fagioli for the 26-year-old Dutchman. The Netherlands camp announced Monday that Koopmeiners was not fit enough to report t...