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The Flying Dutchman
Robin van Persie, born on 6th August 1983, is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United and is the captain of the Netherlands national team. He is recognized as one of the best strikers in the world. His playing style and ability have drawn comparison to Dutch legend Marco van Basten. With an eagle eye for goal and arguably the sweetest left boot in the game, Netherlands' all-time leading goal-scorer reached the final in South Africa before losing to Spain and made it to the third place in the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
Van Persie was hardly a global figure when he first came under Arsene Wenger's scrutiny in 2004, but when he left Arsenal for Manchester United in 2012 there was no one left who did not know his name, establishing himself as one of the Gunners' greatest ever players. Fans say he carried the whole team through one season after the departure of Cesc Fabregas. A young forward with Feyenoord, Van Persie had only been playing in the Eredivisie club's first-team for a couple of seasons before opting to move to London for a bargain 2.75 million pounds. Wenger changed his postion from a left-winger to a forward and the results were magical.
Handed his International debut with Netherlands in the summer of 2005, by the time the 2006 World Cup came around Van Persie had cemented his postion in the Dutch starting XI. In October 2013, he became their all-time leading scorer, overtaking Patrick Kluivert's tally of 40 international goals. His form in 2011-12 as Arsenal club captain was among the best in the world as he drove in 30 league goals to win the Premier League Golden Boot and the PFA Player of the Year award.
Van Persie has always had a fire in his eyes, a hunger to win and determination to succeed, and after having endured seven barren years with Arsenal, he announced that he would not be leaving. Teams all over went in to frenzy to sign him up. Eventually, a week ahead of the 2012-13 season, he agreed terms with Arsenal's rivals Manchester United in a 24 million pound deal, becoming the first player to make such a move since Viv Anderson in 1987.
The switch proved to be a good investment by Sir Alex Ferguson as Van Persie lifted United to a record-extending 20th league title by scoring 26 league goals, including a superb volley as part of a first-half hat trick against Aston Villa to win the title. But these are things reported to you by the every newpaper, TV channel or the internet. Do you know of the other integral cogs in the life of Robin Van Persie that makes him function so well? Let’s take a look
Personal Life:
One of the greatest strengths for Van Persie is his relationship with his family. He was born in Rotterdam to a family of aesthetics and art. José Ras, his mother, is a painter and jewelry designer who also teaches special needs children and Bob, his father, is a sculptor. After Van Persie's parents divorced he was brought up by his father and at school, Van Persie was one of the most misbehaved children and would be sent out from class almost daily. After joining Arsenal in England, Van Persie settled in Hampstead, an affluent suburb of north London and in 2004, Van Persie married Bouchra Elbali.
The couple looked set and happy, until a year later, Van Persie got involved in a rape scandal. Van Persie was finally cleared when it was confirmed that no rape had taken place although Van Persie owned up to being unfaithful to his wife. Fortunately, Bouchra forgave him and they have now moved on to become stronger and the couple now have two children: a son named Shaqueel and daughter Dina. Robin van Persie is a family man who dotes on his children and likes to play table tennis and other games with his wife and kids. Actually when it comes to table tennis, its seems he’s got quite the skill and challenges everyone for a game at Old Trafford. He shares a very close relationship with his children. He even brought his daughter to the training pitch in one of their training sessions during the Brazil 2014 World Cup. He was seen relaxing and playing with her after practice. And his son is seven years old, and already there is battle between the Manchester giants: United and City, on which side will the kid play for. One can easily see just how much Van Persie loves and works hard for his family and this may be a major factor for him being a player of such high quality.
With a venomous left foot, Van Persie has been the bane of many goalkeepers, shooting some spectacular goals. He plays his game with his feet wrapped in size 8 boots. The boots he uses are Adidas F50 adiZero but not the usual one. His boots are customized by him.
Strengths:
Despite not being the sprinter, Van Persie can change the whole game in an instant. He is technically excellent, intelligent on and off the ball and has the vision to unlock any defense. His dribbling is skillful and the timings of his runs are precise; a potent striker with a delicate touch, but a powerful shot. But mostly Van Persie’s strength lies in the manner in which he finishes, collecting seemingly impossible balls, at awkward angles and directing them towards the net.
Weaknesses:
Van Persie’s right leg which he likes to call his chocolate leg would be one, although it must be mentioned that he is improving. However, his injuries continue to plague him and hence his form stumbles. Not great in the, there have also been question marks over his temperament and sometimes he takes the difficult option when a simple pass would suffice.
Career high:
Finishing as the Premier League's top scorer with 26 goals in 2012-13 and lifting the title for the first time in a his debut season at Manchester United. Another notable mention would be when he reached the World Cup finals in the 2010 South Africa World Cup.
Career low:
An 8-2 annihilation at the hands of United, in which he missed a penalty, in early 2011-12. Newly appointed as Arsenal captain, he described the match as one of the worst in his life.
Social Profile- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
There is so much more to Robin Van Persie and even at the age of 30, so much more to see. He has millions of fans all over the world and he does a good job of keeping up his social profile and letting his fans know what he’s up to. If you’re also interested in knowing Van Persie better, then maybe you should follow his official accounts on facebook- https://www.facebook.com/RobinvanPersie, Instagram- http://instagram.com/robinvanpersie, Twitter- https://twitter.com/persie_official.
