Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, gave his backing to Nigel de Jong after the Holland international midfielder was dropped by his country over a tackle that broke Hatem Ben Arfa's leg.
De Jong's sliding tackle slammed into the Newcastle United midfielder's standing left leg in City's 2-1 Premier League victory on Sunday, leaving the Frenchman with a double break requiring surgery.
The next day, with De Jong having already travelled to the Netherlands, Bert van Marwijk, the Dutch coach, removed the 25-year-old from his squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Moldova on Friday and Sweden four days later. "As his club manager I wish to say that whilst he is naturally competitive, Nigel is first and foremost a great player as well as being honest and loyal and I support him wholeheartedly," Mancini told the club website.
Newcastle called on the English Football Association (FA) to take action against De Jong over the tackle. The Magpies have written to the FA to ask them to look into the incident, which went unpunished by match referee Martin Atkinson. A club statement said: "Newcastle United have today written a strongly worded letter to the Football Association in relation to the tackle by Manchester City's Nigel de Jong on Hatem Ben Arfa in Sunday's Premier League fixture, which resulted in Ben Arfa sustaining a broken tibia and fibula of his left leg.
"The club has asked the FA for the appropriate action to be taken against De Jong for the tackle which, in the club's, opinion was unnecessary and used excessive force."
De Jong attracted criticism in the World Cup final for a chest-high tackle on Spain's Xabi Alonso. The challenge earned him only a yellow card but Howard Webb, the English referee, later said he wished he had shown red.
Meanwhile, Mark van Bommel has urged De Jong not to alter his approach.
Van Bommel, the Dutch captain, refused to criticise his usual Oranje central midfield partner, although he hopes he will learn from the experience. The Bayern Munich player told AD Sportwereld: "Nigel is and remains one of us. We find this all very frustrating. It's very unfortunate that he has broken the leg of an opponent twice in six months. "But I know Nigel as a sweet guy. He doesn't want to injure anyone but wants to win every match.
"Thanks to Nigel we reached the final of the World Cup. And now I hear people calling him a criminal. What a nonsense." Holland's physical style at the World Cup saw them widely criticised with Van Bommel and De Jong two of the men targeted. "I know exactly what Nigel is suffering," Van Bommel added. "I have also had to answer for playing hard. But I didn't want to injure anyone and I have had to think about that criticism.
"Nigel should not change his game, we need him as he is. But maybe he should occasionally go into a tackle slightly differently." Van Bommel is Van Marwijk's son-in-law and he admits he can understand why the decision to drop De Jong was made. He said: "I think it was a very difficult decision for him. We are stronger with Nigel than without him, but he did it for the overall good."
* Agencies
