Van Persie retires from football this Sunday!

The 35 year-old Dutch striker will not play again after this season. Feyenoord, the team in which he made his debut in 2001 and in which he will retire after 18 years, announced that the Ado den Haag will be Van Persie's last game as a professional. Van Persie announced on 24th October that he would retire from football at the end of the season. 

"The Feyenoord-ADO Den Haag match will be Robin van Persie's last game as a professional. The captain is fit enough to start on Sunday at De Kuip and he will not travel on Wednesday with the team to play the last game of the season," the club statement reads. 

The Feyenoord coach, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, also spoke about the situation: "It's better for him to enjoy on Sunday at home and that way end the career in the most beautiful manner. We will see how many minutes he can play on Sunday in his goodbye. I have really enjoyed working with him."

Feyenoord is a very special club for Robin van Persie, since he made his debut there and he will also retire at the same club. In between those two spells, he also played at Arsenal, Manchester United and Fenerbahce. With the Dutch national team he ended up getting 102 caps (he started on 90 occasions) and he scored 50 goals. He played in three World Cups (2006, 2010 and 2014) and in two European Championships (2008 and 2012). 

His contribution as a Gunner was very important. Under Arsene Wenger, he played 278 goals scoring 132 goals and giving 41 assists. He conquered amongst other things, a Premier League with Manchester United, an FA Cup for Arsenal and a UEFA Cup (now Europa League) for Feyenoord. In addition, he also managed to become the highest goalscorer in the Premier League in 2011-12 (30 goals) and in the 2012-13 (26) seasons. He was also voted Premier League player of the year in 2012. 

 

May 10, 2019