Robin van Persie has spoken of his shock at becoming Netherlands all time top scorer with his hat-trick in the 8-1 win over Hungary on Friday.
- By Michael Bell
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Before Friday’s match, Van Persie was struggling with a toe injury, and was not expected to start, but netted a hat-trick to take his tally for his country to 41, overtaking Kluiverts record of 40.
After the match, Van Persie spoke of his delight, and praised his teammates for their work throughout the 8-1 win.
He told SBS6, “I didn’t expect to play actually. We took a small gamble,”
“It went better the last days with my toe. This morning we decided that I would play an hour. I didn’t expect that it would go like this.In the first five minutes I lost two balls. I was not happy with that. But the team reacted well and we didn’t concede goals from it. After the first ten minutes we showed really good football.
“The greatest moment of the night was my second goal. The pass from Arjen was brilliant. It was a floater. I only had to give the last touch with my head. The first one was a bit with my shoulder.
“When I was a young boy, I was good with headers. After that I let it slip a bit. It wasn’t a weapon of mine.
“In the last couple of years I trained more with my head. That has worked for me. You can see that now.”