Dutch captain, Robin van Persie, has admitted his side’s first half against Australia was very bad but praised the Dutch fighting spirit.

The 30-year-old helped the Netherlands to come from a goal behind to win the match 3-2 by scoring the important equalizer.

The Dutchman was happy with his contribution and the important victory, particularly since he will be suspended in the third group match after picking up his second yellow card.

"The first half was very bad from our side," he told NOS.

"But it says a lot if you strike back like we did. Australia just kept running and running.

"They played very well. At a World Cup you can't play every match perfect from the beginning until the end. Games like this you must win. In the second half we played our more familiar (4-3-3) system, which we are more used to.

"I'm very happy with this result, especially because I can't play against Chile. That's a real shame."

Australia could have scored the 3-2 themselves just seconds before Memphis Depay scored the winner for the Dutch and Van Persie insisted that these fine margins make the difference at World Cup level.

"Welcome to the World Cup," the Man Utd man said, regarding the topsy turvy nature of the match.

"This is the biggest tournament in the world, so you know it's going to be hard. Even against Australia.

"We must enjoy this. We're almost in to the next round, nobody expected this."

Robin van Persie and his teammate Arjen Robben now both joined Thomas Muller with three goals of top of the Golden Boot race.

How far can the young Netherlands squad go in Brazil? Have your say in the comment section below.