Van Persie guns for Dutch Hall of Fame

Dubai: For somebody who has been through the rough and tumble of English Premier League for six years, Robin van Persie comes across as surprisingly frail. What's more, he has the long fingers of a painter.

Coming from the land of Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch star's parents are also painters who wanted him to take up the vocation when he was a kid. "No, I didn't paint, but I am as creative as them," he said, breaking into a shy smile.

His fans would readily agree, for while the 27 year old may not conform to the label of a football intellectual, van Persie is already considered one of the most gifted players of his generation.

While his Arsenal teammates were bracing for a crucial encounter against Chelsea on the weekend, a debilitating ankle injury that he picked up late last year allowed him to take time out for a trip to the city of their sponsors: Emirates airline.

As an overcast morning panned out at the sprawling Sevens, the sporting facility of Emirates, it was not only tiny tots of the Arsenal Soccer School who gained from van Persie's company and expert tips.

Sponsors' delight

A man with more than 200 appearances for Arsenal and 40 international caps for the Netherlands, van Persie is what you can call a sponsors' delight. A predator on the field with boyish good looks, but one with no qualms about giving into requests for a seemingly endless number of interview requests from the media apart from, of course, posing for photos, signing team shirts and all the works.

On the one hand, he is politically correct so as not to comment on the John Terry issue ("We do not play in the same club and I don't know what the situation is"), but his sense of commitment to causes that matter to him are strong.

Opening up to Gulf News, he said his immediate priority is to be fit again and help Arsenal towards the closing stages of the league. Van Persie is also painfully aware of his country's "under-achievers" tag in the World Cup and Euro championships.

"The expectations are huge," he said. "We have not done much after making the two finals in '74 and '78. To succeed in the World Cup, it depends on so many things. We have the quality to do so this time, but let's see," said van Persie, for whom this would be the second World Cup finals after 2006.

Branded as the "Brazil of Europe" for the flair that they bring to their game, the Dutch have never been short on legends be it Johan Cryuff, Marco van Basten or, in recent times, Ruud van Nistelrooy.

"The reality is you need some huge success for people to remember you as greats. For example, the trio of Ruud Gullit, van Basten and Frank Rijkaard are like folk heroes in our country because of their triumph in the '88 Euro Championship," van Persie said, betraying a burning desire to leave his mark in the Hall of Fame of his country's football.

Injuries are the worst nightmare of a professional athlete, and van Persie is no different. In his desperation to speed up the recovery of the ruptured ligaments that he suffered in the ankle during an international friendly against Italy, he dashed off to Belgrade for the controversial horse placenta treatment.

Uncertain

Evasive if it had worked well for him, van Persie now seems to be living in that zone of uncertainty as to when he can set foot on the pitch in a competitive game.

"I don't even want to think about the World Cup now," he said, perhaps revealing a fear in his subconscious about not being able to take part in the showpiece.

"It's the first one in Africa and it will be a completely new experience. To predict anything is really hard… take the last Euro, where no one really expected Spain to play so well. There could be some surprises again," he said.

Having joined Arsenal in 2004, he is already one of the young veterans there along with inspirational captain Cesc Fabregas.

Asked if he is looking to emulate one of his all-time heroes, Dennis Bergkamp, in the jersey of the north London club, van Persie said: "Well, it's been six years for me, but his 11 years for one club is very long. I still have three and-a-half years of contract left and then only I will know."

"A footballer's best years are between 20 and 30. We have the players like Fabregas, [Samir] Nasri… we have our own way of playing football and hopefully, should be able to win a few big ones before going out," he added almost wistfully.

A father of two, van Persie said he really enjoyed sharing some of his time with the trainees at the soccer school.

"The idea is to help them live the dream. As a professional footballer, you can help them a little bit… put a hand on their shoulder and listen to their questions. Footballing kids, mind you, are always looking for answers as they grow up."