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The 30-year-old Robin de Kruijf made her debut with the Oranjes back in 2008. She retires from the national team with as many as 347 caps to her name. She has been playing for Italy’s top side Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO since 2016 – claiming, among many other titles, the gold medal from the last edition of the elite CEV Champions League Volley. After leaving the Netherlands, she spent time abroad playing in the national leagues of Germany, Italy and Turkey – before returning to Italy to join the ranks of Imoco. After spending many years with the national team, in 2021 De Kruijf said she needed a break to recover both mentally and physically. With the Netherlands, De Kruijf is a three-time EuroVolley silver medallist (2009, 2015, and 2017) and finished fourth at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. She featured for the Dutch team at the 2010 and 2014 FIVB World Championship and won a bronze medal from the 2016 edition of the FIVB World Grand Prix.
Beliën (28 years old) joined the ranks of the Oranjes in 2013 – and her resume includes 261 matches for the national team. Almost like De Kruijf, she currently plays in Italy, with previous stints in Germany and Turkey – apart from the Dutch national league she contested earlier in her career. Beliën underwent surgery in February 2021 in the Netherlands for a stress fracture in her left tibia. In July, she announced that she would not be available for the European Championship, as she chose to recharge physically and mentally before the start of the new club season in Italy. She shared all of the Dutch team’s top achievements with De Kruijf – with the addition of a fourth place at the last World Championship held in 2018 in Japan, where her teammate was absent due to injury.