Nigel de Jong has been named in Holland’s final 23-man squad for the World Cup after coach Bert van Marwijk named his final group ahead of the June 1 deadline

The combative midfielder is the first of what is expected to be many City players travelling to South Africa as the final squads for all the qualifying nations are announced over the next few days.

The 39-times capped de Jong will be an integral member of a Holland team that are favourites to win their group with Denmark, Japan and Cameroon completing the quartet.

The top two teams from Group E will then face the top two sides from Group F, meaning de Jong could be facing Roque Santa Cruz’s Paraguay or Vladimir Weiss’ Slovakia in the Round of 16.

Meanwhile, City’s England contingent face an anxious weekend with Fabio Capello set to announce his 23-man squad over the weekend.

Though Joe Hart looks certain to travel, Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips face stiff competition for a right wing berth and both will hope they’ve done enough to impress the England boss in recent weeks.

Gareth Barry’s ankle injury will be assessed again, though he is believed to making encouraging progress and Capello will be keen to give the midfielder as much time as possible to recover.