Van Persie can show Dutch of class

Published Jul. 9, 2010 5:41 a.m. ET

foxsports

Arsenal ace Van Persie has scored just one goal in six matches for Holland ahead of this Sunday's game at Soccer City. The 26-year-old, who has been deployed in a lone-forward role, has failed to have the impact expected of him in South Africa, but Van Marwijk believes he will come good against Spain. "Robin has really improved during the last few matches and I still have a lot of confidence in him," said Van Marwijk. "He will show his best football in the coming match." Van Persie has also won support from team-mate Dirk Kuyt, who insists the forward is playing an important role for the side. "Robin is a quality player," Kuyt said. "We saw some things against Uruguay [in the semi-final] but in this World Cup it is very difficult for strikers to score goals, get some space and create chances. "But one thing Robin does is work really hard. He is a team player. It is just difficult to create chances. People expected him to score five or six goals. He hasn't done that but the way he is playing he is still very important for us."