Van Persie hails Netherlands teammates after they avoid shock defeat against Kazakhstan

Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has hailed his Netherlands teammates after they avoided a shock result against Kazakhstan on Friday at the Amsterdam Arena.

Netherlands were down to one-nil after defender Renat Abdulin gave the visitors the lead at the Amsterdam Arena with a diving header in the 17th minute. And after losing their opening game in Group A to the Czech Republic last month, things were looking serious for new boss Guus Hiddink.

Hiddink made four changes made to the Netherlands squad, which lost that game in Prague and Kazakhstan were intent on making the most of their opportunity. And with Van Persie and Arjen Robben both missing good chances to level things up before the break, Hiddink was forced into making more changes, The Mirror reported.

The Dutch boss brought on Schalke frontman Klaas Jan Huntelaar 11 minutes into the second half and the impact was almost immediate. Huntelaar met Ibrahim Afellay's cross from the right, outjumping the Kazak defence to grab the equaliser.

Afellay then turned scorer himself with eight minutes to go, while Van Persie rounded off the scoring with a penalty one minute from time.

Van Persie said that it was a bizarre evening, but he added that congratulations to them because they ended up with a good result and it was not easy at all.

The United striker said that despite conceding the early goal, Netherlands kept on playing well and that gives him a really good feeling about the match. He said that now they can travel to Iceland in good spirits, adding that they are more of a footballing side than Kazakhstan, which might suit them better.

Van Persie said that he is especially happy for Afellay, and added that the winger has been out with a long-term injury, so to see him perform so well in the match makes him very happy.