Slovakia will be tough: Van Persie

(GSM) – Dutch striker Robin van Persie admits they are wary of Slovakia’s team spirit when his side face the unheralded side in a round of 16 match on Monday.

Slovakia drew with New Zealand and lost to Paraguay. After they have shown brilliant performance against Italy and crushed them by 3-2, to advance from Group F with Paraguay. The Oranje are unbeaten in the group E, brushing aside Denmark, Japan and Cameroon.

“Slovakia will be tough,” Van Persie told.

“They showed really good spirt and hung in there against Italy and it was a great result for their country. So far, it’s looking good for us, but we can still improve on bits and pieces.”

Holland manager Bert van Marwijk stated: “This is an opponent we must not underestimate. We cannot be nonchalant.”

The Netherlands were boosted by the return of winger Arjen Robben for their final group outing as the Bayern Munich star completed 20 minutes on his comeback from a hamstring injury.

“We made it clear at the start that we would be taking this tournament one challenge at a time, and now we will focus on Slovakia and Slovakia alone,” said Robben.

“I’m already looking forward to it.”