58 Facts About Robin Van Persie

1.

Robin van Persie is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,518
2.

Robin Van Persie is the all-time top scorer for the Netherlands national team.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,519
3.

Robin Van Persie is currently an assistant manager at boyhood club Feyenoord in his first managerial role.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,520
4.

Van Persie was converted to a striker by manager Arsene Wenger and went on to be a consistent goalscorer for Arsenal.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,521
5.

Van Persie has over 100 caps and scored 50 goals for the Netherlands, and from 2013 to 2015 he was the team's captain.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,522
6.

Robin Van Persie has represented his country at the 2006,2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, and the 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championships.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,523
7.

Van Persie's rift with Van Marwijk continued when he was sent home on the eve of the 2002 UEFA Super Cup final against Real Madrid after the coach was displeased with Van Persie's body language after being asked to warm up for a Champions League qualifier.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,524
8.

Van Persie finished his tumultuous first full season with the first team having scored eight goals in a total of 28 appearances, in addition to finishing runner-up in the KNVB Cup.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,525
9.

Robin Van Persie again played 28 matches, but finished with two fewer goals than the previous season.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,526
10.

Van Persie was consequently benched for a number of games, starting with Arsenal's upcoming replay in the FA Cup against Sheffield United, and he was reintroduced into the squad only after Henry was out with a calf injury, and his return to the first team saw him score twice in a Cup semi-final win over Blackburn Rovers.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,527
11.

Robin Van Persie came on as a substitute in the final and scored one of the penalties in the shootout as Arsenal beat Manchester United.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,528
12.

Two days after signing the contract Van Persie was again hit by injury when an opponent stepped on his foot and broke his toe during an FA Cup match against Cardiff.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,529
13.

Robin Van Persie was withdrawn at half-time following another injury scare and featured sporadically throughout the rest of the campaign.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,530
14.

Van Persie scored Arsenal's first and third goals, while the second was a result of his cross being deflected into the net by a Plymouth player for an own goal.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,531
15.

Robin Van Persie had his best season overall for Arsenal as he scored 11 Premier League goals, along with a league-leading 11 assists and a career-best of 20 goals in all competitions.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,532
16.

Robin Van Persie then scored goals against Olympiacos, Fulham, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, West Ham United, and Tottenham.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,533
17.

On 27 February 2011, Van Persie captained Arsenal at Wembley Stadium in the League Cup final, scoring the first half equalizer for the Gunners.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,534
18.

Van Persie scored the goal for Arsenal and extended his Premier League record by scoring in an eighth successive away match.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,535
19.

Robin Van Persie equalled the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry by scoring 18 league goals from the turn of the year to the end of the season.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,536
20.

Robin Van Persie ended the season just two goals behind joint league top scorers, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov in the race for the golden boot, despite being injured for half of the season.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,537
21.

Robin Van Persie then added to his tally with the only goal of the game against Everton, an exquisite volley from an Alex Song long ball.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,538
22.

Robin Van Persie was credited with two assists in the game as he set up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's first Premier League goal and unselfishly passed to Thierry Henry enabling him to score his first Premier League goal since returning on loan.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,539
23.

Robin Van Persie finished as the top goal-scorer in the Premier League with 30 goals, and became Arsenal's 8th all-time top scorer with 132 goals.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,540
24.

On 4 July 2012, Van Persie announced that he would not be signing a new contract with Arsenal.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,541
25.

On 15 August 2012, Arsenal announced they had agreed terms with Manchester United for his transfer, but Van Persie had yet to agree personal terms with the club.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,542
26.

Robin Van Persie signed a four-year contract, keeping him at the club until June 2016.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,543
27.

Van Persie chose the number 20 shirt after assistant coach Rene Meulensteen convinced him that he would help secure Manchester United's 20th league title.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,544
28.

Robin Van Persie is a good footballer, but he scores loads of goals at the same time.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,545
29.

Robin Van Persie scored twice more in the first Premier League match of the season, against Swansea City, for the first of which "he chested it down and executed a crisp, instant scissor-kick into the net".

FactSnippet No. 1,862,546
30.

On 26 October 2014, against Chelsea, Van Persie scored a late equaliser to earn a point for United.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,547
31.

Van Persie celebrated the goal by taking his shirt off and was booked for his actions.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,548
32.

On 14 July 2015, Van Persie joined Turkish side Fenerbahce on a three-year deal for a fee claimed by Fenerbahce to be £3.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,549
33.

On 19 January 2018, Van Persie agreed to return to Feyenoord after cancelling his contract with Fenerbahce.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,550
34.

Robin Van Persie nearly played the entire match before being replaced by Dylan Vente in the 93rd minute of extra time.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,551
35.

Van Persie was a U-21 international and took part in the 2004 and 2006 European Championship qualifying.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,552
36.

The Jong Oranje failed to qualify for the 2004 tournament and Van Persie did not participate in the latter as he was already in the senior squad for the FIFA World Cup.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,553
37.

Robin Van Persie played in all four of the Netherlands' matches and scored his only goal in the group stage against Ivory Coast via a free kick as Oranje were eliminated in the Round of 16.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,554
38.

Robin Van Persie finished with two goals as the Netherlands finished atop their group but again suffered a first knock-out round, second stage elimination.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,555
39.

Van Persie was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,556
40.

Robin Van Persie started every match for Oranje, though he did not increase his goal tally in the following matches.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,557
41.

Robin Van Persie entered the Dutch national team's top 10 all-time topscorer ranking with a tally of 25 goals, dislodging Marco van Basten in the process.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,558
42.

Van Persie had not scored four goals in a single match for a long while.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,559
43.

Van Persie ended the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign as top scorer in the UEFA section with 11 goals.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,560
44.

Robin Van Persie scored twice in the match, one of which was a flying header which was later nominated for FIFA Puskas Award for the most beautiful goal of the year.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,561
45.

Van Persie was the only player since 1966 in World Cup history to score with his left foot, right foot, and head, as well as scoring from a free kick and a penalty kick.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,562
46.

On 28 August 2015, Van Persie was replaced by Arjen Robben as captain of the national team.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,563
47.

In doing so, Van Persie became the eighth Dutchman to reach the milestone.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,564
48.

Van Persie was born in Rotterdam to an artistic family.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,565
49.

At school, Van Persie had serious problems with his behaviour and was excluded from class almost daily.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,566
50.

Van Persie is married to Bouchra, who is Moroccan, and the couple have two children, a son named Shaqueel born in 2006 and daughter Dina born in 2009.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,567
51.

Robin Van Persie hardly needs any space or time to become dangerous.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,568
52.

Van Persie started his senior club career as a left winger and possessed an exceptional ball control and was a talented striker of the ball.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,569
53.

Robin Van Persie was bought by Arsenal as a long-term replacement for Dennis Bergkamp.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,570
54.

Robin Van Persie was at first mostly deployed as a supporting forward in League Cup and FA Cup matches.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,571
55.

Van Persie is a set piece specialist and a vast number of his assists come from both corners and freekicks.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,572
56.

Robin Van Persie is a proven direct freekick taker scoring regularly for his club and country.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,573
57.

Robin Van Persie was occasionally deployed as a false-9 throughout is career, seemingly as a centre-forward, but given the freedom to drop deep.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,574
58.

Van Persie has a sponsorship deal with German sportswear and equipment supplier, Adidas.

FactSnippet No. 1,862,575