On This Day: Drenthe scores first hat-trick of his career in the RPL

On 15 April 2013, Alania Vladikavkaz midfielder Royston Drenthe scored his only goals in the Russian Premier Liga as his side beat Mordovia Saransk at home.

The Dutchman had visited Russia before moving to Vladikavkaz. In the autumn of 2008, a 21-year-old Drenthe played for Real Madrid against Zenit St. Petersburg in the group stage of the Champions League. The Spanish club won 2-1 at the Petrovsky, and the midfielder spent nine minutes on the pitch. Four years later, after also going on loan to Hercules and Everton, he became a free agent and considered ending his career. Such thoughts were outweighed by his desire to return, and in the winter the Dutchman accepted the offer of Alania, who were ranked 15th in the RPL.

"I hadn’t trained for a long time; I devoted myself to my family and the activities that I love. And then people from Alania came to the Netherlands and told me what they were planning to do in Russia, what kind of club they were going to create, and I realized that this was mine. They gave me the most important thing: the feeling that I could start all over again. They gave me back my strength, energy, and self-confidence.

“I realized that I could still be happy in football. These were the main reasons why I signed a contract with Alania. And now I don't want to think about anything other than football," Drente admitted to the club's press service. He added that he “didn’t come to Alania for a joke."

When the RPL matches started, the Dutchman was in the starting line-up and played without interruption. "Drenthe is an example of professionalism both in relation to the game and in relation to teammates," Alania head coach Valery Gazzaev said after the player's debut in the game against FC Rostov on 10 March.

Drenthe then promised that his form would soon reach the highest level, and this happened a month later in a home match with Mordovia, another outsider in the championship. The former Real Madrid player not only scored for the first time in the RPL, but also scored the first hat-trick in his busy career.

"I am happy that we won, and that I managed to play well and support my teammates. I'm a football player; I always have a hunger for goals. I am glad that I am at Alania and I hope to help them again," Drenthe told reporters after the victorious match. An admiring Gazzaev even called him the club’s best buy.

The very next match, a 2-1 defeat against Krylia Sovetov Samara, was the last for the Dutchman in the RPL. After leaving Samara, Drenthe was injured and missed the rest of the season. At the last home game with Dynamo Moscow, Vladikavkaz fans dedicated a banner to him in English: "We brought you back to football, and you will bring us back to the top!” They expected that the foreigner would remain with the club after relegation to the FNL, but in the summer he left for the English Championship having been personally invited to Reading by the club's Russian owner Anton Zingarevich.

Over the past seven years, Drenthe has managed to leave football for rap music, and return to playing. He didn't think much about Russia, but his current team, playing in the Dutch third tier, should remind him of it, because they are called Kozakken Boys. They were named after the Don Cossacks who liberated the city of Werkendam from Napoleon's army in 1813.