Dutch coach Louis van Gaal has stated that Robin van Persie is definitely not at 100%, but he expects the forward to be at his best when the World Cup 2014 kicks off for the Dutch against Spain. The 30-year-old had an injury plagued season with Manchester United, but towards the back and of the season, it is understood that manager David Moyes allowed him to continue his recovery in Holland. Van Gaal says that this played a huge role in his recovery, which has enabled him to appear in the last few friendly matches for the national team. However, he was taken off in the 2-0 win over Wales and the worst was feared for the striker.
The soon-to-be Manchester United manager announced that van Persie is definitely not at 100% but since the World Cup is two weeks away, it would allow him enough time to get his best. Netherlands open their tournament with a match against Spain in what would be a repeat of the 2010 finals. This match could determine their fate in the tournament, as anything other than a victory will put them at a huge risk of missing out on the knockout stages. Van Gaal will want to go out on a high.
“He is not 100 per cent, but we have two weeks to go. I think he will be 100 per cent. He is coming out of injury but we built him already up in our federation, our medical department. It was under the permission of David Moyes, so we could control him. He has worked very hard. Then he played two matches of 20 or 30 minutes and the last match 70 minutes. We did not expect that as the injury was bad,” said the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona coach.