Robin Van Persie Biography

Robin van Persie born in Rotterdam, on 6 August 1983 is a former Dutch professional footballer who played as a forward, shadow striker or winger. He played between 2001 and 2019 for Feyenoord, Arsenal, Manchester United, Fenerbahçe and again Feyenoord. Van Persie is known as a technically gifted footballer and is praised for his passing and kicking skills.

Van Persie played with Excelsior and Feyenoord in his youth and made his official debut in the first team with the Feyenoord in 2002. That same year he won the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord and was proclaimed Dutch Talent of the Year. In 2004 he moved to Arsenal, where he won the

and the

in his first season. In his remaining seven seasons at The Gunners, he took away individual titles such as the Premier League Golden Boot as top marksman and the Best Player of the Year 2011/2012.

Van Persie went to rival Manchester United in the summer of 2012. In his first season at Old Trafford, he won the

title and ended for the second time in a row as top scorer of the Premier League with 26 goals. After the departure of figurehead Alex Ferguson as a manager, both Van Persie and Manchester United had two disappointing seasons.

Van Persie made his debut in the Dutch national team in June 2005. In 2013 he became captain and top scorer of all time. He represented the Netherlands at three World Cups (2006, 2010 and 2014) and two European championships (2008 and 2012).

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All You Need To Know About Robin Van Persie Biography

On 12 May 2019, he played his last professional football match with Feyenoord in

against ADO Den Haag.

Robin Van Persie Information

In this section of

Robin Van Persie biography

, as we know him a little more, it is time to share some general information about him, from

Robin Van Persie life story

to

Robin Van Persie religion

, stay tuned to read more about the Dutch legendary footballer.

Robin Van Persie Bio

• Full Name: Robin van Persie

• Nickname: Flying Dutchman

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Robin Van Persie Physical Stats

• Weight: 71 Kg

• Height: 1.83 m

• Eye Color: Brown

• Hair Color: Black

Robin Van Persie Football Information

• Position: Striker

• Jersey Number: 10

• Professional Debut: 2001

Robin Van Persie Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 6 August 1983

• Birth Place: Rotterdam, Netherlands

• Zodiac Sign: Leo

• Nationality: Dutch

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Robin Van Persie childhood

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Robin Van Persie Early Life

Robin Van Persie is born on 6 August 1983 to mother Jose Ras, a painter and jeweller and father is Bob, a sculptor. After his parents divorced, Robin lived with his father. He was known as a troublemaker at school and was repeatedly expelled. His maternal grandfather is Wim Ras, a former gymnast. Robin dreamed of following in his parents' footsteps as a child but later chose a career in sports.

Van Persie started his football career at

. Unlike the other children, he was taken on at the age of five, while the minimum age was actually six. The youth trainers at the time, Aad Putters and René Hessel, did not want to let him leave. In the E, D and C teams he played together with Said Boutahar, who also played as a full-time football player.

With childhood friends Mounir El Hamdaoui and Luigi Bruins, who also played for Excelsior at the time, he mainly played football on the playgrounds in Kralingen in Rotterdam-East.

Robin Van Persie Profile

In Excelsior's C youth he was taken away by Feyenoord when he was thirteen. He made his Eredivisie debut there on 3 February 2002, at home against Roda JC (5-0). That season immediately brought him his biggest success so far: with Feyenoord winning the final of the UEFA Cup against

(3-2), on 8 May 2002. Van Persie was also elected Dutch Talent of the Year for the 2001/2002 season.

Under coach Bert van Marwijk, Van Persie grew into an outstanding player and aroused the interest of the international elite clubs. Because of his conduct, he was not so well received by the technical staff in Rotterdam. Often discussed was his actions concerning the league match between

and RKC of 31 March 2002. Van Persie reported to the team too late because he forgot to set his clock forward for summer time. Nevertheless, he was allowed to play in the second half. He then surprised everybody by taking a free-kick without permission, while the experienced specialist Pierre van Hooijdonk had just put the ball in front of himself.

In the 2003-2004 season, Van Persie's development slowed down and he lost his starting position. In the winter break

showed up for Van Persie, but Feyenoord was unable to reach an agreement with the London club. After the winter break, the situation became even more desperate for Van Persie. At his own request, he joined Jong Feyenoord in March for an away match against Jong PSV.

At the end of March, Van Persie forced a break with Feyenoord, making his wish to leave the club clearly in an interview with Voetbal International and distancing himself from Van Marwijk. For a long time, Van Persie seemed to be leaving for PSV, but after Arsenal came back for the striker, the

club was brushed aside by Van Persie. This came in for criticism from then chairman Harry van Raaij.

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Arsenal

In the summer of 2004, he was signed by Arsenal, at the request of manager Arsene Wenger. He saw Van Persie as the ideal successor for Dennis Bergkamp. Van Persie made his debut at Arsenal on 8 August 2004 in the Community Shield match against rival Manchester United, which they won 3-1. That same season he won the FA Cup with Arsenal, beating

again in the final.

After regular playing time and two extra times, there was still a draw on the scoreboard, penalty shots had to bring the decision. Van Persie managed to cash in on his.

Against

, Van Persie scored a goal of the month on 29 September 2006. On 22 January 2011, he scored his first hat-trick in the Premier League against

after a missed penalty. The first of these three goals also marked his 100th in his total club career.

After the departure of captain Cesc Fabregas to

at the beginning of the 2011/2012 season, Van Persie took over the captain's band from him.

Van Persie became the top scorer of the Premier League with thirty goals in the 2011/2012 season. After Jerrel Hasselbaink (18 goals for Leeds United in 1998/99 and 23 goals for Chelsea in 2000/01) and Ruud van Nistelrooij (25 goals for Manchester United in 2002/03), he was the third Dutch top scorer of the English Premier League. On 4 July 2012, he announced on his website that he would not renew his contract with Arsenal.

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and his Man United career.

Manchester United

On 17 August 2012, Van Persie transferred to Manchester United for some €32 million, where he signed a contract for four years. He made his official debut for Alex Ferguson's team on Monday 20 August 2012 in the league game against Everton. In his second match, he scored his first goal. Thanks to three goals by Van Persie, Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 3-0 on their own field on 22 April 2013. With this victory, United secured the twentieth EPL title in club history. 

Van Persie also became top marksman of the Premier League with 26 goals for the second time in his career. He also provided nine assists in the 2012/2013 season and was voted Player of the Year by United fans. At the end of that season, club icon Alex Ferguson left The Red Devils.

Under the new team manager David Moyes, Manchester United had a tragic 2013/2014 season. Manchester United finished seventh in the Premier League. Van Persie played 21 of the 38 league games, in which he scored twelve times. Moyes did not make it to the end of the season and was fired in April 2014; Ryan Giggs finished the season as interim coach. In May 2014, former national coach Louis van Gaal, with whom Van Persie had a successful World Cup in Brazil that summer, was appointed as the new manager.

The 2014/2015 season became Van Persie's least productive season at Manchester United. He scored ten goals in 27 matches and ended up on sidelines. Once again he was regularly injured and for the first time in eleven years, he was no longer a regular player at his club. After the

, the relationship between Van Gaal and Van Persie also became more complicated and the latter stated in an interview that he 'did not get a fair playing time' from his trainer.

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Fenerbahce

Van Persie signed a contract with Fenerbahce SK in July 2015 until mid-2018 for a transfer fee of €6,650,000. He made his debut on 28 July 2015 for Fenerbahce as a substitute in a match against Shakhtar Donetsk in the third preliminary round of the

. He scored his first goal for the Turkish club on 20 August 2015. In the first of two matches against Atromitos in the preliminary round of the

, he scored the only goal of the match in injury time. His first league goal for Fenerbahce followed on 23 August 2015. That day, he scored the only goal of his team against Rizespor.

On 20 October 2016, Van Persie played against his former club Manchester United. They lost the match 4-1. He scored Fener's only goal in the 83rd minute of the match. The goals of Manchester United came from 2 penalties from Pogba and Martial. The third goal came again from Paul Pogba and just after half time the fourth from Jesse Lingard. On 3 November, the 2 teams played the second leg that Fenerbahce won 2-1 after a goal from Moussa Sow and another from Dutch football player Jeremain Lens. Van Persie sat on the bench. On 20 November 2016, Van Persie scored two goals against Galatasaray SK. He was named 'man of the match' after that match.

Return to Feyenoord

On 19 January 2018, Van Persie returned to Feyenoord, which was his first professional club. Fourteen years after leaving Rotterdam and his training club Feyenoord, with whom he won the UEFA Cup in the 2001-2002 season against Dortmund, who was only fifth in the Eredivisie that season, the return of the wonderkid certainly brought a fresh start for the reigning champion. Entering the game with a quarter of an hour to go before the end of the match against Groningen (3-0), he scored his first goal in his fourth appearance.

In August 2018, he was appointed team captain. Van Persie scored a double against Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord won (6-2) at home. On 12 May 2019, he announced his retirement to the Dutch sports media after Feyenoord's defeat against ADO Den Haag (0-2).

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Netherlands

Robin van Persie made his debut for the Dutch national team on 4 June 2005 against Romania (2-0), when he was substituted for Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 64th minute. He scored his first national team goal in his second international appearance against Finland. He was a regular at the 2006 World Cup and scored one goal; he was also part of the 2008 European Championship squad, playing in all four matches and scoring two goals.

At the 2010 World Cup, van Persie was deployed as a centre forward but only managed to score one goal in the competition. Despite the unusual defensive style of play of the Dutch national team, they managed to reach the final, in which van Persie was in the starting eleven. However, they lost 1-0 after extra time with a goal by Andrés Iniesta. On 2 September 2011, he scored four goals against San Marino in the Netherlands' record 11-0 win in European Championship qualifications.

He has been the Netherlands' top scorer since 11 October 2013. He scored three goals in the 8-1 win over Hungary in the European Championship qualification match, overtaking the previous record-holder Patrick Kluivert.

At the 2014 World Cup, he scored two goals in a 5-1 win over defending champions Spain. On 10 October 2015, he played his 100th international match in the European Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan. Three days later, he was also brought on against the Czech Republic, in that match, he scored his 50th and final international goal. He was also a substitute in the European Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan.

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and his coaching career.

Coaching Career

About a year after his retirement as a player, Van Persie returned to football, this time as a coach. On 5 March 2020, Feyenoord head coach Dick Advocaat announced that Van Persie would return to the club he served for two periods. Van Persie joined the first team' staff in the role of strikers coach, a role he would fulfil one day a week. In addition, Van Persie remained active on English television as an analyst of Premier League matches.

Style of Play

He was known for his skill and versatility, being able to play in all attacking positions and also as an offensive midfielder. He had a precise and powerful shot with his left leg, with which he stands out for his goals from outside the area, being them with the ball rolling or in free-kicks. Despite being left-footed, he had a good shot with his right leg.

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Reception

Robin Van Persie is widely regarded as one of the best football strikers of his era, and one of the top three Dutch forwards of all time. He was a truly complete player and he could play in all attacking positions, and he was also good as an attacking midfielder.

Patrice Evra has said about Van Persie: "For Manchester United, Robin is great. He scored three goals and missed a penalty in the match against Southampton. When he got back to the locker room, the first word he said was that he was so disappointed to have missed the penalty. That reflects the desire, courage, and character of him and the titles he has won so far. He doesn't just score for himself. He truly expects the team to win stuff.

Goal Celebration

As a prolific striker, Robin Van Persie has scored many goals during his playing time, both on the club and international level. One of the goal celebrations we often saw him doing was when he ran to the bench or the fans, opening his both hands and shouting in joy.

During one of his goal celebrations in a match against Chelsea which they lost and he scored a hat trick, Robin Van Persie ran to the fans, touched his right shoulder, then his left and afterwards raised his hand in the air. After the match, media claimed that Van Persie performed a Nazi salute. However, he denied these accusations on his Twitter account.

Robin Van Persie outside Football

Robin Van Persie has some businesses outside football and one that we are aware of is Grabyo. He has invested £3.2M in the company on Nov 25, 2014. Grabyo is the premium video editing and publishing platform built for live, social and mobile. Other footballers like Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry has also invested in the company.

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Robin Van Persie biography

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Robin Van Persie Personal Life

In this section of Robin Van Persie biography, we will take a deeper look at his personal life and share some information about his wife, children, etc.

Family, Children and Relationships

Robin grew up in a neighborhood in Rotterdam. He had problems at school and was often expelled from classes. Her mother is a painter and her father is a sculptor. Robin has two sisters, Lilly and Kiki. He was always encouraged to devote himself to the arts like his parents but was more influenced by football. He claims that "football can be art". 

He is married to a Dutch woman of Moroccan descent named Bouchra with whom he had a son on November 16, 2006, named Shaqueel, and a daughter named Dina Layla. On being asked whether he was converted to Islam because of his marriage, Van Persie said: I am not a Muslim, nor a Christian or a Jew. I was raised very generously. If you want to be a Muslim, it has to come from deep down. I wouldn't do it just to please my wife. To be faithful to me is a quest to be a good person."

Philanthropy

Robin Van Persie is involved in charitable works and we have heard a lot about it. In 2014 it was announced that Van Persie and his wife Bouchra will support a charity project named SOS Children, which is the largest orphan charity in the world. They even organized a fundraising event in London to help treat children with HIV and Aids.

Legal Issues

On June 2005, van Persie was arrested by police on sexual assault charges: fashion model Sandra Kriegsman claimed that van Persie had harassed her and raped her in a hotel room. In February 2006, the case went to court and van Persie spent 14 days in jail, but he was soon released from jail, although the case was not yet closed. In the end, Robin was completely cleared by the court, and Krigsman was forced to confess that although she had had an intimate relationship with van Persie, she had completely made up the rape story.

Van Persie, despite the fact that he was forgiven by his wife, only a few months later decided to talk about the scandal and said that he behaved at the time frankly disgusting. In addition, according to Robin, it was extremely unbearably stuffy in jail, which made him pass out on several occasions. It is also alleged that the police had to search his personal belongings even though they were not allowed to do so by law.

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Robin Van Persie Career Statistics

In this section of Robin Van Persie biography, we will take a look at his career stats, stay tuned.

Club

During his playing career at club level between 2001 and 2019, Robin Van Persie has played a total of 593 matches for 4 different clubs at all competitions, scoring 272 goals. However, his best spell was with Arsenal where he scored 132 goals at 278 matches for the Gunners.

International

Robin Van Persie nationality

is Dutch and he has represented the Netherlands at international level between 2005 and 2017, playing 102 matches and scoring 50 goals. He is the top goalscorer for the Netherlands.

Robin Van Persie Honors

Other than

, Robin Van Persie has won titles at each of the clubs he has played for, the most notable of them are UEFA Cup in 2001–02 and KNVB Cup in 2017–18 with Feyenoord, FA Cup in 2004–05 with Arsenal and Premier League in 2012–13 with Man United.

At the International level, he has never won a title with the

, however, he has finished runner-ups and third-place in 2010 and 2014 World Cups respectively.

The most prominent individual honors he has won during his career include Dutch Football Talent of the Year: 2001–02, Premier League Golden Boot: 2011–12 and 2012–13, PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2011–12 and Netherlands all-time top goalscorer.

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