The veteran coach, who was at the helm of the Oranje between 2008 and 2012, feels his compatriot is overlooked because of Ronaldo and Messi’s goal-scoring form, but believes Robben is a more complete player than the La Liga duo.

"If I'm a coach and I could choose Messi, Ronaldo or Robben, I'd choose Robben," he told AD.

"Out of the three players, he's the most complete. Robben ahead of Ronaldo and Messi in that regard but not everyone sees that. The focus is on goals and attacking.

"I get the idea that this is the thinking for individual prizes like the Ballon d'Or."

Robben has been in stellar form of late, and van Marwijk has hailed the winger’s mental strength after being jeered by the Bayern Munich crowd when he represented his country against the German club, having missed a penalty for his club side days before in the 2012 Champions League Final.

"How long ago was it that he was booed in his own stadium? We played there in 2012 with Netherlands against Bayern and he couldn't do anything right,” he said.

"Look what he did afterwards. That makes him very special."

Robben has returned to the Dutch set-up following an injury that ruled him out of his country’s previous two matches. The Netherlands take on Kazakhstan in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Friday night, before facing Iceland in their third qualifier on Monday.



