Van Basten faces anxious wait over Van Persie

Holland coach Marco van Basten will establish in the “next few days” whether Arsenal striker Robin van Persie will be fit to face Italy in their first Euro 2008 game on Monday.

Van Persie has been out for several weeks with a thigh problem but returned to training this week.

“Robin trained for the first time in a month with the group,” said Van Basten.

“That was, of course, a bit awkward for him. We will see how things go in the next few days.

“After that we will make a decision. Physically he is okay now. But he needs to be back to his old self as soon as possible.

“He can do this quickly because he wasn’t out for a very long time.”