Robin Van Persie Shows off Skills at Freestyle Tournament (Video)

So this was what Robin van Persie meant about the little boy inside him.

With the season over and the Premier League title secured, Dutch striker van Persie is keeping himself busy so far this offseason with something called the Robin van Persie Tournament in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

From the looks of it, the tournament involves professional footballers showing off against hopelessly outmatched children with freestyle moves few would ever try in the fast pace and rough environment of an elite European match. Or else, they're just goofing off for the camera.

Either way, in the clip above we see van Persie flashing some impressive skills along with Karim Touzani of Sparta Rotterdam and Tonny Vilhena of Feyenoord. All three manage a few neat tricks, but van Persie is clearly the star of the show—against little kids.

If you've followed van Persie's recent career developments, you might be reminded of his comments shortly after joining the club last summer from Arsenal. In his first comments with his new club, the Dutch striker explained that he would wear No. 20 to help United win their 20th league title and that he had received a bit of professional advice from an unlikely source.

“When I have to make a hard decision in life, I always listen to the little boy inside me," he said via the Daily Mirror. "What does he want? That little boy was screaming for Manchester United."

Now it all makes sense. The little boy inside van Persie is the one showing off the skills. Otherwise, he'd just be a grown man running circles around little kids, and that would be kinda silly. Next thing we know, RvP will want to raise the Premier League trophy at his own tournament, several weeks after winning it.

Oh, wait.

(h/t 101 Great Goals)

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