Robben emotional: "It all hit me at once"

Thursday, 24 June 2010

It was the moment all of the Netherlands - and a large portion of football lovers worldwide - had been waiting for: the return of Arjen Robben.

He came on, had a couple of everyday touches and then exploded into one of his famous moves inside, to decide the game. He connected to a great steep pass by Wesley Sneijder, seemed neutralized by Song, but then cut inside and unleashed a vicious shot that hit the post. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was there to wipe up the remains and score Holland's winner.

In an interview on Dutch television, straight after the game, Robben was fighting tears when he was asked what the moment when he came on had meant to him.

A lot, apparently.

A little later when talking to the press in the neutral zone the emotions had ebbed away. "It all came back at once. All the work I have done in the past weeks. Of course I had fears that I would miss the entire World Cup, it was the first thing I thought when I got injured against Hungary. But I didn't allow myself to think about it too much. Straight away I started working hard to get fit. Now that I am, and I am at the World Cup it all hits me. It has really affected me."

Robben doesn't yet know when he will be fit enough to play a full game. "I agreed with the medical staff to look at it one day at a time. We'll see how I feel in four days. The most important thing is that I've been out there again, that I've played. A game is different than training. This was an important first step."

Holland will face Slovakia on Monday 28 June in Durban (16h00)

Goals

Cards

	17' D. Kuyt
26' N. N Koulou
	65' R. Van der Vaart
	70' G. van Bronckhorst
81' S. M\'bia

Lineups