Holland head coach Lambertus Van Marwijk has announced the 26-man training squad for the world cup. The former Feynoord and Borussia Dortmund manager has opted not to call Arjen Robben, Mark van Bommel and Wesley Sneijder to allow them to remain in their club prior to the UEFA Champions League final next month. The final 30-man roster will be released on May 11th.

List:

Sander Boschker (FC Twente), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Piet Velthuizen (Vitesse), Michel Vorm (FC Utrecht); Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg), Andre Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord); Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Vurnon Anita (Ajax), Otman Bakkal (PSV Eindhoven), Edson Braafheid (Celtic), Wout Brama (FC Twente), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax), Orlando Engelaar (PSV Eindhoven), John Heitinga (Everton), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Stijn Schaars (AZ Alkmaar), David Mendes da Silva (AZ Alkmaar); Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Eljero Elia (Hamburg), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Jeremain Lens (AZ Alkmaar).

However the biggest absent from this list is the veteran striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. The former Real Madrid striker has announced his retirement from International competition after the 2008 Euro Cup; however he made himself available for international selection in hopes to play his “last” world cup.

Van Nistelrooy had left Real Madrid early this year to join Hamburg in order to get more minutes. Four goals in 10 matches were not enough to convince Van Marwijk to take him to the world cup.

Van Nistelrooy played 64 matches with Holland and scored 33 goals. He played his first international tournament with Holland in 2004 (Euro Cup), since they had failed to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In 2006 he played his first World cup under head coach Marco van Basten; he started every match with the exception of the round of 16 match in which they were eliminated against Portugal. His last International match was against Russia in the Euro 2008 quarterfinals, despite scoring the equalizer Holland was defeated 3-1.

Van Nistelrooy is added to the list of high profile players who will be absent in the 2010 World Cup, other names like Kevin Kuranyi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andriy Schevchenko, David Beckham, Michael Owen and Roman Pavlyuchenko will be absent from the tournament as well.