Van Nistelrooy: Playing time key to Hamburg move

Van Nistelrooy: Playing time key to Hamburg move

Published Jan. 24, 2010 11:42 a.m. ET

Ruud van Nistelrooy says he is only moving to Bundesliga club Hamburg from Real Madrid to play more often.

The 33-year-old Dutch striker told Marca newspaper that leaving had been a "painful" decision. He will run a lap of honor Sunday before Madrid's Spanish league match against Malaga.

Van Nistelrooy says he has "written a nice page in the history of Madrid" and that his biggest disappointment was not winning the Champions League.

He scored 60 goals in 89 appearances since arriving from Manchester United in 2006. With the arrival of attacking stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema, he was relegated to the bench this season and has scored only one goal from four games.

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