Van Gaal congratulates record breaker Van Persie

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Louis van Gaal heaped praise on Robin van Persie after he became Netherlands' record goalscorer with a hat-trick in an 8-1 win over Hungary.

Van Persie's treble moved him onto 41 goals for his country – beating Patrick Kluivert's previous record of 40.

Van Gaal's side may have secured their qualification for Brazil 2014 last month, but that did not stop them turning in a devastating performance that their beleaguered opponents simply could not deal with, as Kevin Strootman and Jeremain Lens added first-half goals to the two scored by Van Persie, with a Szilard Devecseri own goal coming after the Manchester United striker had sealed his hat-trick – and the record.

"This (breaking the record) is a great achievement," Van Gaal told SBS6. "But ultimately it is all about the way the team puts him in contention.

"The best part of the evening I found (was) that we were trying to squeeze for 90 minutes

"This is a difficult process to squeeze after losing possession. It's the first time we were able to keep going.

"The whole team put in a performance, we took a big step tonight."