Rafael van der Vaart

Rafael van der Vaart
Rafael van der Vaart Real Madrid.jpg
Personal information
Full name Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart
Date of birth 11 February 1983 (1983-02-11) (age 28)
Place of birth Heemskerk, Netherlands
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club Tottenham Hotspur
Number 11
Youth career
1993–2000 Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2000–2005 Ajax 117 (52)
2005–2008 Hamburg 74 (29)
2008–2010 Real Madrid 58 (11)
2010– Tottenham Hotspur 0 (0)
National team‡
2001– Netherlands 83 (16)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:16, 25 June 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:30, 11 July 2010 (UTC)
This is a Dutch name; the family name is Van der Vaart, not Vaart.

Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈraːfa.ɛl vɑn dər ˈvaːrt]  ( listen); born 11 February 1983 in Heemskerk, North Holland) is a Dutch footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur and the Netherlands national team. His preferred position is central midfield as a playmaker however he can also operate in wider positions. Van der Vaart began his career at Ajax's famous youth academy and worked his way into the first team debuting as a 17-year-old. He moved to Bundesliga side Hamburg, then to Real Madrid, then on to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the 2010–11 Premier League summer transfer window.

Contents

Early life

Van der Vaart was born in Heemskerk to a Dutch father and a Spanish mother from Chiclana de la Frontera, Cádiz. Before joining AFC Ajax, he played for a local club called De Kennemers based in Beverwijk.[2] He grew up on a caravan park living a "gypsy life" and often imagined he was Romário. He was also a Manchester United supporter in his youth.[3] It was there that he learned how to play football and, at the age of 10, he joined the AFC Ajax academy.[4]

Club career

Ajax

Van der Vaart came through the ranks at Ajax with national teammates John Heitinga and Wesley Sneijder. Initially he signed for Ajax on a trial basis as a ten-year-old but was eventually enrolled permanently after impressing the coaches. At the age of 17, Van der Vaart made his debut for the Ajax senior side in a 1–1 draw with FC Den Bosch on 19 April 2000 in the 1999–2000 season.

Rafael van der Vaart with Ajax.

In the 2000–01 season, Ajax coach Co Adriaanse increased Van der Vaart's playing time by moving him to the attacking midfielder position. He was voted as European Talent of the Year by Italian football website CalcioManager.[5]

The next season, Van der Vaart suffered a serious knee injury and was out for several months. Shortly after returning to action, he re-injured the same knee on 2 April 2002, requiring an operation that involved the removal of his entire meniscus. He missed the rest of the season and finished with fourteen goals. In 2002–03, Ajax won the Amsterdam Tournament, though injury limited Van der Vaart to 21 league appearances, in which he scored 18 goals.

Van der Vaart was named team captain by coach Ronald Koeman for the 2004–05 season. During an international match against Sweden on 18 August 2004, he was injured by then Ajax teammate Zlatan Ibrahimović which led to the sale of Ibrahimović to Juventus two weeks later following controversial accusations that the Swede had intentionally tried to hurt Van der Vaart. As a result, Van der Vaart took Ibrahimović's spot as a striker.[6] His on-pitch performance suffered due to being played out of position and he was stripped of the team captaincy by Koeman as a result, while the media criticized him for being overweight and spending too much time in the Dutch nightlife with his then-fiancée, The Music Factory VJ Sylvie Meis.[7] In September, a league match against ADO Den Haag was temporarily halted by the officials due to incessant chants by opposing fans directed at Meis.[8] The incident, coupled with his ongoing injury problems that resulted in an average of only 23 league appearances in five seasons with Ajax, led him to announce that he was leaving the club at the end of the year.

Hamburg

Van der Vaart's €5.5 million transfer to Bundesliga club Hamburger SV, on 1 June 2005[9], raised many eyebrows. Many other top-flight clubs had shown interest in the midfielder but he chose Hamburg. The Ajax legend Johan Cruyff himself commented in his De Telegraaf column, "I don't know what to say about it or what Rafael van der Vaart is doing in Hamburg."[8] Van der Vaart finished his first season as the team's top scorer as Hamburg finished third in the league and won the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup. He assumed the team captaincy for the 2006–07 season.

In the 2007–08 season, Van der Vaart scored 12 league goals as Hamburg finished fourth in the league, while reaching the round of sixteen in the UEFA Cup. During the UEFA Cup away win at FC Zürich, he tore ankle ligaments and was out of action for several weeks. Despite interest from clubs such as Chelsea[10] and Valencia CF,[11] he stated that he would stay at Hamburg until the end of the season, but opted out of signing a contract extension.[12]

Real Madrid

Van der Vaart in action for Real Madrid.

Towards the end of the 2007–08 season, Van der Vaart was linked to a move to several clubs including Atlético Madrid and Juventus. Atlético made a €15 million bid for the Dutchman[13], which Hamburg rejected, and in the end it was their cross-town rivals who got Van der Vaart's signature instead.

On 4 August 2008, Real Madrid and Hamburg reached a €13 million agreement for Van der Vaart's transfer, Real Madrid's only summer signing.[14] He signed a five-year contract for an undisclosed amount.[15] Van der Vaart debuted in a 2–1 preseason win, four days later, against Independiente Santa Fé, where he scored the tying goal and provided an assist.[16] He changed his squad number from 19 to his favored number 23 after teammate Wesley Sneijder took number 10 following Robinho's 31 August departure to Manchester City.[17] He marked his league debut for Real Madrid with a strike against CD Numancia in a 4–3 victory. On 24 September, he scored his first career hat-trick in a 7–1 thrashing of Sporting Gijón.[18] In October 2008, Van der Vaart was one of the many La Liga players to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or but the award eventually went to Manchester United player and future teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.[19] For the latter part of the 08–09 season, Van der Vaart was mostly utilized as an impact substitute by coach Juande Ramos which led to speculations of a fall-out between coach and player. Despite transfer rumors linking him with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, he denied having any links with the English clubs.[20]

In the summer of 2009, it was speculated that Van der Vaart would leave Real Madrid after being told he was not going to be part of the team's plans by coach Manuel Pellegrini. His number 23 jersey was even given to Esteban Granero in preseason, leaving him without a squad number. However, towards the end of summer transfer window, he eventually came to an agreement with Real Madrid to stay with the club after the squad size had been reduced to 25 players as Dutch compatriots Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar left the club. Van der Vaart was handed his original number 23 jersey while Esteban Granero was given number 24. After a wait of 4 games, Van der Vaart was finally included in Pellegrini's squad list to face Villarreal CF on the 23rd of September.[21] An injury to Kaká gave Van der Vaart a chance to establish himself as a key player for Los Blancos again. On 20 December he scored a brace against Real Zaragoza. Van der Vaart stated his desire to stay at Real Madrid, at least until the end of his contract.[22] On 6 March he scored the winning goal in injury time for Real Madrid against Sevilla and, two weeks later, scored a crucial equalizing goal as Real came from behind to defeat Sporting Gijón, and also got on the scoresheet on matchday 38 against Malagà.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 31 August 2010, two hours before the transfer window closed, Tottenham Hotspur made an offer of £8m for Van der Vaart. According to Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, an £18m transfer to Bayern Munich had collapsed the day before and Van der Vaart had suddenly became much cheaper.[23] The Premier League were expected to confirm on 1 September whether the requisite paperwork was submitted in time to beat the deadline and hence whether the transfer could be completed.[24] It was revealed that the deadline had indeed been missed by Tottenham, due to technical issues preventing the necessary paperwork from being completed. Spurs requested special dispensation from the Premier League to allow the transfer to go through sucessfully.[25] It is thought that the technical issues involved the computer servers used in the transaction between themselves and Real Madrid.[26][27] Real also confirmed that they met the deadline for the transfer but denied Redknapp's assertion that the player was subject of an £18m bid from Bayern Munich, stating that Redknapp's claim greatly surprised them.[27][28] Van der Vaart himself said that he was "totally happy" about the deal, during which he will be paid in the region of £44,000 a week,[27] and will wear the number 11 shirt for Spurs.[29] The deal was later confirmed by the Premier League on 1 September, after they gave Tottenham special dispensation for the transfer.[30][31] Van der Vaart later denied speculation that he had been a failure at Real Madrid, claiming that he always gave his best over the last few years for both club and country, and that he wanted to show his quality for his new club.[32][33]

International career

Rafael van der Vaart playing for the Dutch national team

Rafael van der Vaart gained the notice of the youth team coaches and was called up for the youth squads. He played in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship with present senior teammates Maarten Stekelenburg and John Heitinga and former Real Madrid teammates Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Arjen Robben.

The 18-year-old Van der Vaart then made his senior international debut against Andorra on 6 October 2001.[34] He was a member of the squads that participated in UEFA Euro 2004, UEFA Euro 2008, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Despite figuring prominently in a number of qualifying stage matches, Van der Vaart has had a lack of luck when it came to the final tournament.

Euro 2004

A sub-par performance by the Dutch during their opening game of Euro 2004 persuaded former manager Dick Advocaat to change the side's formation into one which he felt the talented Van der Vaart did not fit in to. With Advocaat's new system seemingly working, Van der Vaart would be reduced to play a bit-part role at Euro 2004, as the Oranje reached the semifinals.

Rafael van der Vaart playing for the Dutch national team

2006 World Cup

Despite that setback, Van der Vaart produced some superlative performances in the Bundesliga the following season, and it seemed that Van der Vaart's turn to shine on the big stage was to finally come — at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, niggling injury problems resurfaced, and Van der Vaart was not risked by Dutch coach Marco van Basten for the opening World Cup encounter against Serbia and Montenegro. With victory in that opening game, the national team coach would once again decide to continue fielding a Van der Vaart-less lineup. And once again, Rafael van der Vaart was reduced to a bit-part role in the squad although since then he has become a more regular fixture in the starting XI.

Euro 2008

Van der Vaart was called up for UEFA Euro 2008 despite missing several qualification matches due to an ankle injury. As coach Marco van Basten had decided to change their formation to 4–2–3–1, Van der Vaart was deployed in the midfield along with Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt or Robin van Persie, behind lone striker Ruud van Nistelrooy to great effect. In the opening game of the competition, the Dutch team won 3–0 against the world champions Italy with Van der Vaart playing a role in the build-ups. Van Basten decided to field him again in the starting line-up in the next match against France; the Oranje later went on to win 4–1.

Van der Vaart (right) with Wesley Sneijder

2010 World Cup

Despite enduring a torrid time at club level[35], Van der Vaart remained a first-choice player for van Basten's successor Bert van Marwijk in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. On 10 September 2008, he ended a 10-month goal drought with a vital strike against Macedonia in a 2–1 win.[36] He ended the campaign with 2 goals and several important assists.

On 12 August 2009, Van der Vaart captained the Dutch in the absence of Giovanni van Bronckhorst in a friendly against England. He scored the second goal off a Gareth Barry mistake to put the Netherlands two goals up in the first half but Jermain Defoe netted a brace to seal a 2–2 draw.[37]

Van der Vaart was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[38] On 27 May 2010, Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that Van der Vaart would be part of the final squad of 23 participating in the competition.[39] He was in the starting line-up for their first match in the competition, a 2-0 victory over Denmark. van der Vaart then participated in the following two matches against Japan and Cameroon, but eventually lost his spot in the starting line-up to his recently recovered fellow midfielder Arjen Robben after being substituted in the match against Cameroon. He was brought off the pitch after giving away a penalty to Cameroon by blocking the ball with his arm from a free kick. However he made another appearance in the semi-final against Uruguay after coming on for the injured Demy de Zeeuw. He helped Oranje win the match with 3-2, thus sending them to the final. In that final, he also played, substituting Nigel de Jong just before injury time.[40] Netherlands played Spain and lost the game 1-0 to an Andrés Iniesta goal. After Giovanni van Bronckhorst was substituted off, he was handed the captain's armband.

International goals

Rafael van der Vaart: International goals
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 September 6, 2003 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands  Austria 1–0 3–0 2004 UEQ
2 September 10, 2003 Toyota Arena, Prague, Czech Republic  Czech Republic 2–1 3–1 2004 UEQ
3 October 11, 2003 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands  Moldova 4–0 5–0 2004 UEQ
4 June 1, 2004 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland  Faroe Islands 1–0 3–0 Friendly
5 September 7, 2005 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands  Andorra 1–0 4–0 2006 WCQ
6 October 8, 2005 Toyota Arena, Prague, Czech Republic  Czech Republic 0–1 0–2 2006 WCQ
7 November 15, 2006 Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands  England 1–1 1–1 Friendly
8 February 7, 2007 Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Russia 4–1 4–1 Friendly
9 June 2, 2007 Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea  Korea Republic 0–1 0–2 Friendly
10 June 2, 2007 Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea  Korea Republic 0–2 0–2 Friendly
11 June 6, 2007 Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand  Thailand 0–1 1–3 Friendly
12 November 21, 2007 Dinamo Stadium (Minsk), Minsk, Belarus  Belarus 2–1 2–1 2008 UEQ
13 September 10, 2008 Skopje City Stadium, Skopje, Macedonia  Macedonia 0–2 1–2 2010 WCQ
14 April 1, 2009 Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Macedonia 4–0 4–0 2010 WCQ
15 August 12, 2009 Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands  England 2–0 2–2 Friendly
16 June 1, 2010 Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands  Ghana 2–0 4–1 Friendly

Personal life

On 10 June 2005, Van der Vaart married Sylvie van der Vaart (née Meis) and on 28 May 2006, their son Damián Rafael was born. Some of the media have described the couple as the "new Beckhams" but both of them denied the claims saying that they prefer to just live a normal life.[41]

Club statistics

[42]

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Netherlands League KNVB Cup Europe Total
1999–00 Ajax Eredivisie 1 0 - - - - 1 0
2000–01 27 7 - - - - 27 7
2001–02 20 14 - - 2 2 22 16
2002–03 21 18 1 2 6 2 28 22
2003–04 26 7 - - 7 1 33 8
2004–05 22 6 1 0 7 1 30 7
Germany League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
2005–06 Hamburg Bundesliga 19 9 3 2 9 5 31 16
2006–07 26 8 7 3 5 3 38 14
2007–08 29 12 12 4 6 2 47 18
Spain League Copa del Rey Europe Total
2008–09 Real Madrid La Liga 32 5 1 0 7 0 40 5
2009–10 26 6 2 1 3 0 30 7
England League FA Cup Europe Total
2010–11 Tottenham Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total Netherlands 117 52 2 2 22 4 141 60
Germany 74 29 22 9 20 10 116 48
Spain 58 11 3 1 10 0 71 12
England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 249 92 27 12 52 14 327 120

Last updated 16 May 2010

Honours

Celebrating victory in the Spanish Super Cup.

Club

Ajax
Hamburg
Real Madrid

International

Netherlands

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Rafael van der Vaart profile on Real Madrids homepage". http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1193041476158/1202740733612/jugador/Jugador/Van_der_Vaart.htm. 
  2. ↑ "About me Biography". Van Der Vaart Official. http://www.vandervaartofficial.com/en/biography.asp?Id=105&LcId=en-gb. Retrieved 2009-06-11. 
  3. ↑ Rafa's arrived! All you need to know about Tottenham's new signing Rafael van der Vaart
  4. ↑ Hawkey, Ian (2008-11-09). "Young master". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article1013683.ece. Retrieved 2009-06-11. 
  5. ↑ "Van der Vaart voted 'European Talent of the Year'". ajax-usa.com. http://www.ajax-usa.com/news/2000-2001/0611.html. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
  6. ↑ Player profile: Rafaël van der Vaart
  7. ↑ Van der Vaart joins Hamburger SV for five seasons
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Whatever happened to Rafael van der Vaart? – BBC Sport, 7/12/05
  9. ↑ Ajax agrees to transfer midfielder Van der Vaart to Hamburg
  10. ↑ Rafael van der Vaart is £20m Chelsea target
  11. ↑ Koeman wants Van der Vaart
  12. ↑ Van der Vaart turns down new deal
  13. ↑ Atletico make Van der Vaart bid
  14. ↑ "Real Madrid and Hamburg reach an agreement for the transfer of the Dutch midfielder". Realmadrid.com. 2008-08-04. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202740425234/noticia/ComunicadoOficial/Rafael_van_der_Vaart.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
  15. ↑ "Rafael van der Vaart completes deal with Real Madrid". Realmadrid.com. 2008-08-05. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202740453911/noticia/Noticia/Contract_signed.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
  16. ↑ "Van der Vaart's scores in debut". Realmadrid.com. 2008-08-08. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202740581142/noticia/Cronica/Van_der_Vaart_s_scores_in_debut.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
  17. ↑ "Official shirt numbers – Sneijder switches to ‘10’ and Van der Vaart takes over ‘23’". Realmadrid.com. 2008-09-03. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202741649574/noticia/Noticia/Official_shirt_numbers.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-03. 
  18. ↑ "Real Madrid 7–1 Sporting Gijon". Realmadrid.com. 2008-08-24. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202742667161/noticia/Cronica/Pure_spectacle.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-27. 
  19. ↑ Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard nominated for Ballon d'Or
  20. ↑ Van der Vaart denies Chelsea talk
  21. ↑ "Pellegrini calls up 18 players". Realmadrid.com. 22 September 2009. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202797365294/noticia/Convocatoria/Pellegrini_calls_up_18_players.htm. Retrieved 9 May 2010. 
  22. ↑ Van loving Real life
  23. ↑ Redknapp hopeful on Rafael
  24. ↑ Premier League assesses Van der Vaart transfer to Spurs
  25. ↑ Spurs hit Van der Vaart hitch
  26. ↑ Computer says no! Tottenham blame late Rafael van der Vaart move on technical fault
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Real: We met deadlines in Van der Vaart deal
  28. ↑ Miguel Pardeza: "It is absolutely false that Real Madrid received a 21 million euro offer from Bayern Munich for Van der Vaart"
  29. ↑ Squad update - 02 September 2010
  30. ↑ Tottenham clinch £8m Rafael Van der Vaart deal
  31. ↑ "Van der Vaart deal confirmed". Tottenham Hotspur. http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/van-der-vaart-deal-confirmed-010910.html. Retrieved 2010-09-01. 
  32. ↑ Van der Vaart denies failing in Madrid
  33. ↑ Rafael - I'm no Real reject
  34. ↑ "Fact file". vandervaartofficial.com. http://www.vandervaartofficial.com/en/fact_file.asp. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
  35. ↑ Battler Van der Vaart out of Real shadows
  36. ↑ Dutch start with victory in Macedonia
  37. ↑ Smyth, Rob (12 August 2009). "Holland vs England – as it happened". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/12/holland-england-live-report. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  38. ↑ "Van Marwijk trims Dutch squad to 27". AFP. 2010-05-15. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iO9bETRJh0iovmmUN7ZeFDugTEIg. Retrieved 2010-05-18. 
  39. ↑ "Holland coach Bert van Marwijk finalises World Cup squad". The Guardian. 2010-05-27. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/27/holland-world-cup-23-man-squad. Retrieved 2010-05-27. 
  40. ↑ "Netherlands-Denmark". FIFA.com. 2010-06-14. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=249722/match=300061478/report.html. Retrieved 2010-06-16. 
  41. ↑ Sylvie and Rafael
  42. ↑ ESPNsoccernet – Rafael Van der Vaart Stats, News – Real Madrid

External links

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. – current squad

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