Van Persie: Dutch must win Euro 2012

Netherlands attacker Robin van Persie believes the Dutch need to prove how good they are and win the European Championships next year.

Bert van Marwijk’s team will be looking to break a drought and win the competition for the first time since 1988 when it begins in Poland and Ukraine in June 2012.

Van Persie said on Wednesday the Netherlands were more than capable of matching it with world champions Spain.

“I think, with Spain, we are one of the favourites for that tournament,” he said. “It’s up to us to prove that we are that good.”

The Arsenal man said it was a matter of keeping the squad healthy and hitting form at the right time, similar to what they did at last year’s World Cup when they lost 1-0 to Spain in the final.

“Being fit is really important to grow into a tournament like we did last time,” van Persie said.

“You can’t play six or seven great games at a big tournament. You have one or two or three games that are at that level that everyone expects.”

The Dutch have won all six of their Group E qualifying games and will be looking to record their first major championship win since Marco van Basten topped the scoring charts to lead them to glory 23 years ago.