THE HAGUE, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian-born FC Twente defender Douglas was added to the Dutch squad on Monday for the forthcoming World Cup 2014 qualification matches against Andorra and Romania on Oct. 12 in Rotterdam and four days later in Bucharest.
Douglas, who's girlfriend and daughter are Dutch, felt it was unrealistic for him to get a national team invitation from his home country and in 2010 he declared he would be interested in playing for the Netherlands. He decided to start the proceedings of obtaining Dutch citizenship and in November 2011 he obtained a Dutch passport.
FIFA regulations state that a naturalized footballer above the age of eighteen years old should at least have resided in his new country for five years before being allowed to play for the national team. This rule meant had to wait until September 2012 before being officially eligible for 'Oranje'.
Last Friday Dutch head coach Louis van Gaal originally decided not to name Douglas for the matches against Andorra and Romania, but after hearing the news that injured central defender Joris Mathijsen would not be available for the Romania game, he opted to give Douglas his first call-up on Monday.
The 24-year-old Douglas Franco Teixeira was born in Florianopolis, Brazil and began his career at the Brazilian club Joinville. He joined Dutch team FC Twente on trial prior to the 2007/2008 season and became a regular after is first year. Douglas has now played 136 league matches, scoring 11 goals, for the Dutch club.