Holland captain Robin van Persie has declared himself 100 per cent fit for the World Cup as the Dutch national side arrived in Rio de Janeiro Friday. What a pairiing he should make with his old pal Louis van Gaal, the Dutch team Captain. And what chemistry the Manchester United striker will have with the newly minted Red Devils boss when the Premier League season kicks off again in August.
For now though, let’s talk Rio, Holland and Robin van Persie.
RVP withdrew at half-time of the final warm-up game versus Wales in Amsterdam with a groin issue but he insisted it was only as a precautionary measure after feeling some discomfort.
ESPN’s executive producer for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Jed Drake, lead play-by-play commentator Ian Darke, and match and studio analyst Steve McManaman participated in a media conference call today to preview the month-long world football tournament which comes around but once every four years.
A lot of ground was covered in this hour long call, including the health of scoring sensation Robin van Persie.
Darke:
“As for van Persie, I don’t know. It’s been a bit of an injury ravaged season. And now there is another problem. As Macca said, they are in a tough group. So he’s captaining it for Louis Van Gaal. I think the Netherlands and him have got their work cut out.”
Mcmanaman:
“I’m really looking forward to see how Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie perform, to be very honest. There are so many subplots.
like Wayne Rooney, we talk about the opposition of Robin van Persie. They’re going to play Spain and Chile. If he’s going to progress and be a star of the show, he’s going to have to play well against arguably two of the best teams around. So it’s a huge, huge World Cup for him. He’s the star man in the Netherlands forward line … No one stands out like Robin van Persie. So he’s going to have to show the pressure like Wayne Rooney.”
“So it’s a huge tournament for both of them. It could be the pinnacle tournament because of the opposition. Because of the stature of the two players playing together at Manchester United. There are going to be heroes or failures after this World Cup tournament. There is no middle ground, unfortunately, for them.”
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