MUFC
19-06-2006, 07:42 AM
Ruud van Nistelrooy says his World Cup exploits with Holland have come as a welcome distraction from his end-of-season Manchester United woes.Axed from the Red Devils' Carling Cup final line-up, dumped to the bench by Sir Alex Ferguson and eventually booted out of United's team hotel and banned from playing in Roy Keane's testimonial amid allegations of a poor attitude, van Nistelrooy sought sanctuary with Marco van Basten's squad.
After collecting his car and driving away from Old Trafford, possibly for the last time, on that fateful Sunday, van Nistelrooy immediately headed for home.
Within days, he had been transformed.
And on Friday in Stuttgart, he proved his predatory powers remain, lashing home the first World Cup finals goal of his career to help Holland secure a knockout berth by beating Ivory Coast.
"The season at Manchester United did not end well for me and I was happy to make a step towards the World Cup with Holland," he said.
"I prepared myself properly and now I feel really good - I think my performance against the Ivory Coast proved that.
"I still do not know what is going to happen at United. I still have two years left on my contract.
"If the situation changes, I am sure I will find out about it, otherwise I will be going back to Manchester. But for now, I just want to concentrate on helping my country to do well at the World Cup."
Much as he wants to push United to one side, memories of Old Trafford are all around him, not least in the Argentina side he will face in Frankfurt on Wednesday in a game which will decide who tops Group C.
It is quite likely van Nistelrooy will find himself in direct opposition to Red Devils team-mate Gabriel Heinze, now thankfully recovered from cruciate ligament surgery.
Heinze has already turned in two impressive central defensive displays in Argentina's outstanding start to the competition. And, after the former Paris Saint-Germain star famously declared he would kick club-mate Wayne Rooney should the need arise, van Nistelrooy knows he will have to watch his back.
"I don't think he will make any exception for me," he laughed.
"I know Gaby well. I come up against him in training quite often and I know how committed he is. Our game against Argentina might not be quite as important as it could have been but he will put everything into it - and more."
Having seen his initial plans to move to United scuppered by a cruciate injury himself six years ago, van Nistelrooy knows exactly how hard Heinze has had to work since he suffered the damage against Villarreal in September.
And he has nothing but praise for the defender, who won the Red Devils' player of the year award in his first season with the club.
"I am so happy Gaby has managed to come back," said van Nistelrooy.
"You can only be impressed by the fact he has been out for so long, yet is producing those kind of performances over the past few days."
Heinze is not the only one impressing in an Argentina side which has established itself as the one of the firm favourites to wrest the world champions' tag from South American rivals Brazil.
Their six-goal demolition of Serbia and Montenegro has made everyone sit up and take notice, especially the Dutch, who now must beat Jose Pekerman's men to top the group.
"To get through this group, in two games, is a great achievement but the Argentina game is going to be the big test of how far we have come as a team," said van Nistelrooy.
"We saw bits of their game against Serbia on TV and some of their football took the breath away. We were so impressed from what I have seen of all the games so far, I would make them.
After collecting his car and driving away from Old Trafford, possibly for the last time, on that fateful Sunday, van Nistelrooy immediately headed for home.
Within days, he had been transformed.
And on Friday in Stuttgart, he proved his predatory powers remain, lashing home the first World Cup finals goal of his career to help Holland secure a knockout berth by beating Ivory Coast.
"The season at Manchester United did not end well for me and I was happy to make a step towards the World Cup with Holland," he said.
"I prepared myself properly and now I feel really good - I think my performance against the Ivory Coast proved that.
"I still do not know what is going to happen at United. I still have two years left on my contract.
"If the situation changes, I am sure I will find out about it, otherwise I will be going back to Manchester. But for now, I just want to concentrate on helping my country to do well at the World Cup."
Much as he wants to push United to one side, memories of Old Trafford are all around him, not least in the Argentina side he will face in Frankfurt on Wednesday in a game which will decide who tops Group C.
It is quite likely van Nistelrooy will find himself in direct opposition to Red Devils team-mate Gabriel Heinze, now thankfully recovered from cruciate ligament surgery.
Heinze has already turned in two impressive central defensive displays in Argentina's outstanding start to the competition. And, after the former Paris Saint-Germain star famously declared he would kick club-mate Wayne Rooney should the need arise, van Nistelrooy knows he will have to watch his back.
"I don't think he will make any exception for me," he laughed.
"I know Gaby well. I come up against him in training quite often and I know how committed he is. Our game against Argentina might not be quite as important as it could have been but he will put everything into it - and more."
Having seen his initial plans to move to United scuppered by a cruciate injury himself six years ago, van Nistelrooy knows exactly how hard Heinze has had to work since he suffered the damage against Villarreal in September.
And he has nothing but praise for the defender, who won the Red Devils' player of the year award in his first season with the club.
"I am so happy Gaby has managed to come back," said van Nistelrooy.
"You can only be impressed by the fact he has been out for so long, yet is producing those kind of performances over the past few days."
Heinze is not the only one impressing in an Argentina side which has established itself as the one of the firm favourites to wrest the world champions' tag from South American rivals Brazil.
Their six-goal demolition of Serbia and Montenegro has made everyone sit up and take notice, especially the Dutch, who now must beat Jose Pekerman's men to top the group.
"To get through this group, in two games, is a great achievement but the Argentina game is going to be the big test of how far we have come as a team," said van Nistelrooy.
"We saw bits of their game against Serbia on TV and some of their football took the breath away. We were so impressed from what I have seen of all the games so far, I would make them.