Van Nistelrooy ready to make up for World Cup woe

June 5, 2008

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Ruud van Nistelrooy wants to star at Euro 2008 so he can erase the painful memory of a World Cup flop he blames on Manchester United.

Van Nistelrooy endured a dismal tournament in 2006 and was substituted in all three of Holland's group games before being dropped for the last 16 defeat by Portugal.

The Dutch striker is convinced he struggled in Germany because of the turmoil at United that led to his move to Real Madrid.

He was reportedly involved in a training ground with Cristiano Ronaldo and then fell out with United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

Now he is far more relaxed after winning the Spanish title with Real and expects to shine for Marco van Basten's team in Austria and Switzerland.

“I've never said I didn't want to play for the national team,” he told The Sun. “Right now I'm far calmer than two years ago and that was because at United I was going through a bad period.

“And at that time, with a big tournament, that was something I certainly didn't need.

“Then on top of that I had a conflict with Dutch coach Marco van Basten. Now I feel a lot better and I believe in our success.”

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