Van’s the man!

He’s not the most elegant of strikers. In the Premiership, he’s an ugly duckling to the graceful, shimmering swan of Thierry Henry...

He’s not the most elegant of strikers. In the Premiership, he’s an ugly duckling to the graceful, shimmering swan of Thierry Henry. But when Ruud van Nistelrooy gets the ball in the box, chances are it’s headed goalwards. Even when he’s got a defender wrapped around him, even when he’s falling, even when the goal is behind him. Ask Oliver Kahn.

It’s unlikely van Nistelrooy will spurn too many chances in this tournament. He’s waited a long, long time to play in a top international tournament and clearly intends to make the most of it. A knee injury just before Euro 2000 — staged, ironically, in the Netherlands — robbed him of the chance to play in front of his home crowd. Two years later, Holland would fail to qualify for the World Cup.

So Van the Man has come to Portugal — dragging his team along by the scruff of its neck through a shaky qualification round — with a lot to make up for. Don’t talk to him about hype, though; he’s been through this and more in his 27 years. His knee injury in 2000 also put off, at the very last moment and for one whole year, a much-publicised, eagerly awaited transfer to Manchester United. Others would have crumbled in despair; Nistelrooy bided his time and when he put on the red jersey there was no stopping him.

Despite being one of the two most feared strikers in the Premiership, van Nistelrooy has had to fight for his place in the Dutch XI, given that Patrick Kluivert (born on the same day, same year) will not play alongside him. It’s the Barcelona man who’s lost out, though. And, after Tuesday’s volley, Van the Man seems to have cemented his place.