Robin van Persie has assuaged fears that his latest injury, suffered while on international duty with the Netherlands, is bad enough to leave his career in the balance.
The 34-year-old striker was called into the Dutch squad for the first time in almost two years to face France and Bulgaria in back-to-back World Cup qualifiers.
However, after coming on for the final 30 minutes against France, Van Persie tweaked something during the latter stages of the 4-0 defeat and ended the evening with a grimace on his face.
Several media outlets then took it upon themselves to jump the gun and report he’d torn a cruciate ligament and was facing up to a year on the sidelines as a result.
Not so, it would appear, with Van Persie today issuing a short statement on social media to confirm his knee knack is nowhere near as serious as first mooted…
— Robin van Persie (@Persie_Official) September 5, 2017
It’s not like the footballing press to resort to unsubstantiated hyperbole in search of easy clicks.
A rare blip.