EXCLUSIVE: Van Persie - 'Football can be art, but hard work & discipline make the difference'

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-persie-robin/0vgcq6un/"][b]Robin van Persie[/b][/a] has never been someone who liked making noise off the pitch.[/p][p]Whatever brilliance he had to offer, he showed it on the pitch. He did it in the Netherlands, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/feyenoord/8zjySeoN/"]Feyenoord[/a] and the Dutch national team, and in England, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-united/ppjDR086/"]Manchester United[/a]. A career filled with trophies and individual honours, as one of the finest strikers of his generation.[/p][p]After hanging up his boots, Robin is now trying his hand at coaching, looking at the game from a different perspective and discovering a new side of football.[/p][p]We met him on the sidelines of Sea Otter Europe, the International Cycling Festival in Girona - where he was taking part as Global Brand Ambassador for ENGWE.[/p][p]Just a few kilometres from the Camp Nou, the scene of one of the most controversial moments of his career: his sending-off against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a] in the Champions League after he continued an attack despite the referee’s whistle: "It was incredible. There were 100,000 people, and I really didn’t hear the referee’s whistle".[/p][p]We had a relaxed conversation with him about football, his career, the lessons he learned along the way, and his passion for cycling and an active lifestyle[b]: "I don’t do a lot of partnerships, but the ones I do, I pick carefully, and I’m sure they do as well. Everything is so detailed, so smooth, and you feel that as well when you ride the bike. It's really fun to do that".[/b][/p][p][b]What kind of approaches in football fascinate you today?[/b][/p][p]"In football, I’m fascinated by very different approaches. As a player, I had a vision that was more connected to certain principles, while my experience on the bench has taught me to look at the game from a broader perspective. Today I can appreciate both a team that knows how to strike quickly on the counter-attack and a team that is capable of dominating a game through possession and build-up play".[/p][image alt="Flashscore spoke to Van Persie in Spain." id="aaf51d7a-df45-400a-ad2c-ae47a8df54ce" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="08481c6f-703a-4b1d-b4da-c76bbe69dc8e" original-width="5712" original-height="4284" /][p][b]You once said: “Football can be art.” What were the most beautiful goals of your career, the ones you would truly consider works of art?[/b][/p][p]"Obviously, the goal against Spain, the header, and at club level the volleys against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/charlton/fXf5mQ7t/"]Charlton[/a], with Arsenal, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston Villa[/a], with Manchester United.[/p][p]"But for me, it’s not so much those moments that are the most important. It’s more the moments building up to those moments, because everyone sees what happens on the pitch.[/p][p]"Most people just see the nice moments, but for me what matters more is the hard work, the grind, what you do when no one sees you. And for me, that is more important than one particular goal".[/p][p][b]Speaking of the moments people don’t see: how did you deal with injuries?[/b][/p][p]"Life is not only about the nice moments, but you have to suffer a lot to achieve good moments, and that is something I appreciate a lot. Difficult moments leave a mark and inevitably test you.[/p][p]"To get through certain periods, you need strength, patience and, above all, the ability to bounce back without giving up. I consider these moments very important, more important than the trophies I won, as well as the memory of the people who were there with me.[/p][p]"I really appreciate that, because it’s easy to have people around you when you’re on top of your game and when things are going well. Everyone is sort of happy for you. But who is there when you have a difficult time? Who is then loyal?"[/p][p][b]Who was an opponent you particularly admired and respected?[/b][/p][p]"The hardest opponents were [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/terry-john/0AovoI68/"]John Terry[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thiago-silva/xAsJbgXA/"]Thiago Silva[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ferdinand-rio/Yymt9y5J/"]Rio Ferdinand[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vidic-nemanja/42zgWz5F/"]Nemanja Vidic[/a].[/p][p][b]And which player did you learn the most from?[/b][/p][p]"Actually, I learned from basically the whole Arsenal team when I arrived in London. The whole team, basically. I was young; they were older; they were better. So that was a really good place for me to be in".[/p][embed guid="c6d85627-3dca-44dd-bf5c-9b61fc63cf0a" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8Ehw1LvULk&pp=ygUUdmFuIHBlcnNpZSBiZXN0IGdvYWw%3D" social-type="youtube" /][p][b]Arriving in the Premier League was a bit like going to university, then.[/b][/p][p]"When I arrived at Arsenal, I thought I was the number one player in my country, but actually I was just a talented young player with everything still to prove.[/p][p][b]And you proved it…[/b][/p][p]"Over the years, I sort of got to learn what my place is in football. And from my time in England, I realised: 'Hey, hang on, there are way better players'. So I had to be open, I had to learn, I had to keep my head down and be humble".[/p][p][b]A lesson that, step by step, led you to win the Player of the Year award in 2012.[/b][/p][p]"It was a big honour, but I have to admit that I don’t personally like personal trophies, because they are not a fact. They are people’s opinions; they depend on what other people like. If they envy you for whatever reason, they will not vote for you. So there are a lot of different reasons why you might win it or not win it".[/p][embed guid="ad4cf845-4273-424b-be84-e8cfe77d280a" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQvkrqRCW24&pp=ygUUdmFuIHBlcnNpZSBiZXN0IGdvYWw%3D" social-type="youtube" /][p][b]How do you reach your full potential?[/b][/p][p]"It all starts with daily discipline, your mindset and your willingness to keep improving. To achieve a goal, you have to be willing to give everything for it, step by step. The truth is that, to stay at the top for a long time, you have to live with boredom, sacrifices, consistency and very few distractions".[/p][p][b]Football seems to be played at an incredible speed today.[/b][/p][p]"Compared with a few years ago, football seems to have changed its skin. In the past, technical quality and the ability to read the game carried more weight, whereas today the physical side and speed have an increasingly important role. It's an evolution that, in a way, also reflects the society we live in: we have less and less time to stop and everything seems to have to happen faster".[/p][p][b]And so, what is left of good old football?[/b][/p][p]"As far as I'm concerned, the footballing aspects themselves should always remain the most important ones. Because if you leave one second earlier and make it in time, and you have already seen where the opponents are and where your own players are and you give the perfect pass, even if you didn’t sprint, you still made an impact, you still made a difference".[/p][image alt="Van Persie on the touchline for Feyenoord" id="a5c9f064-abb5-46a2-afd8-e471bb8f1ade" credit-line="STEFAN KOOPS / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP" guid="fdb627c0-47f9-45b2-bd65-15631d486f80" original-width="5315" original-height="3543" /][p][b]For a Dutchman, the step from football to cycling was almost a natural one. You have become ENGWE’s Global Brand Ambassador: what convinced you to join this project, which promotes an active and sustainable lifestyle?[/b][/p][p]"When you go on and take on a partnership, you always look at the quality of the brand, what they stand for, what their values are, what I stand for. I'm Dutch, so we basically grew up with cycling. It’s like the first thing you get when you're two, three, four years old, you get a bicycle. And that part never really left me. I cycled to school, everywhere.[/p][p]"And that is what I look for in any partnership: do we share the same values? Does it stand for quality? Is it reliable? Is it nice-looking, which is important as well, and is it sporty?"[/p][p][b]How important is the concept of sustainability to you?[/b][/p][p]"It’s really important. We owe it to the planet. And then I also look at it as a bit of extra quality of life. An electric bike, besides keeping you fit, gives you the opportunity to have a better quality of life with the people you love. You have the option to go on longer trips than you would normally take on a normal bike".[/p][p][b]Do you follow cycling and the performances of Pogacar & co.?[/b][/p][p]"Yes, I do. It’s a really hard sport that takes a lot physically and mentally to perform at the highest level. And that is exactly what connects me with ENGWE: the desire to aim for the top, to be the best version of ourselves".[/p]