Rafael van der Vaart

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Rafael van der Vaart
Personal information
Full name	Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart
Date of birth	February 11, 1983 (1983-02-11) (age 25)
Place of birth	Heemskerk, Netherlands
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder,Forward
Club information
Current club	Hamburger SV
Number	23
Youth clubs
1987–1993 1993–2000	De Kennemers Ajax
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000–2005 2005–	Ajax Hamburger SV	117 (52) 074 (29)
National team2
2001–	Netherlands	053 (12)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 17, 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of May 25, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (born February 11, 1983) is a Dutch footballer who plays for Bundesliga side Hamburger SV and plays for the Dutch national team. Van der Vaart was born to a Spanish mother (from Chiclana de la Frontera) and a Dutch father in Heemskerk, in North Holland. He has scored 12 goals in 50 caps for the national team and he is a free kick specialist.

His previous clubs were Ajax and De Kennemers in his hometown of Heemskerk. Van der Vaart played for the Netherlands in Euro 2004 and in the 2006 World Cup. He married Sylvie Meis, on June 10, 2005, and their first child, Damián Rafael, was born May 28, 2006.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Ajax Amsterdam 1.2 Hamburg SV 2 International career 3 Club statistics 4 Individual awards 4.1 Awards (at Ajax) 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Ajax Amsterdam

At the age of ten, Rafael van der Vaart was enrolled in a youth trial in Amsterdam for Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam. His talent was quickly noticed and he eventually joined AFC Ajax on a trial basis. It was soon decided that young Rafael was allowed to continue to stay at the club.

At the age of seventeen, Rafael van der Vaart made his debut for AFC Ajax in a 1-1 draw with FC Den Bosch in the 1999-00 season.

In the 2000-01 season, van der Vaart saw a vast amount of game time compared to his first season at Ajax. Then Ajax coach Co Adriaanse opted to play Van der Vaart more and more, giving the Dutchman a good spell of game time at Ajax. Van der Vaart's keen eye for attack was noticed and he was put into the central attacking midfielder position. That year, he went on to be elected as Ajax Talent of the Year from the Ajax supporters and was also voted as European Talent of the Year by readers of Italian magazine Calcio Manager.^[1]

The 2001-02 season brought more prestige for Van der Vaart. He was given the number 23 shirt as a sign of his further growing involvement with Ajax. However, in that season, Van der Vaart suffered a serious knee injury which reqiured an operation. The operation went through and Van der Vaart returned to football, however, the injury plagued the young player even more and on April 2, 2002, Van der Vaart sustained a more serious injury in the same area and required a more important operation, removing his entire meniscus. Although being plagued by injuries throughout the season, van der Vaart managed to score 14 goals for Ajax.

In the 2002-03 season, Van der Vaart had recovered from his injuries and during the Amsterdam Tournament, he scored two goals in Ajax's magnificent 4-3 victory over FC Barcelona. Ajax went on to win the tournament with a goal from van der Vaart against Internazionale in the finals. Despite suffering yet another series of injuries through out the season, van der Vaart finished the season with 18 goals to him name in 21 appearances in the Eredivisie.

In the 2004-05 season, van der Vaart was named team captain by coach Ronald Koeman. During an international match against Sweden national football team on August 18, 2004, van der Vaart was injured by fellow Ajax teammate, Zlatan Ibrahimović, which led the Ajax side to disfunction and also led to Ibrahimović's sudden sale to Juventus on August 31, 2004. Upon his return, Ajax, unable to find a replacement striker, gave manager Ronald Koeman no choice but to put van der Vaart into a striking position, especially with, Ajax striker, Wesley Sonck's poor form.^[2]

Continuing to have a poor season, van der Vaart was stripped from his captaincy by Koeman on December 10, 2004. His performances drew negative reports from the media, who constantly criticized him for being overweight and spending too much time at glamourous parties with his then fiancée, TMF veejay Sylvie Meis.^[3] Koeman quit the team as head coach, and Danny Blind took over as manager. Van der Vaart was injured for most of the games left under Blind, and he announced that he did not plan on staying with Ajax, and would leave the following season.

Ajax officially announced the sale of van der Vaart for an estimated fee of €5.5m to Hamburger SV on June 1, 2005.^[4]

[edit] Hamburg SV

Van der Vaart moved to Bundesliga club Hamburg SV on July 1, 2005, where he was positioned as playmaker. For a player touted as one of the young stars of Europe, a move to a side passed its greater years came as a shock to most of the footballing world; some even declared it a step backward, and that it was a result of Van der Vaart's poor performances for Ajax.^[5] In his first season in Germany, Van der Vaart began developing the form he used to herald in Ajax. He finished the season as Hamburg's topscorer, including a strings of sensational long range efforts, and earned rave reviews for his performances both within Germany, and abroad.

Moving to Germany turned out to be a prudent move for the talented Dutchman, ably leading his new side to victory in the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup, following it up with a 3rd place finish in the Bundesliga, which ensured Hamburg a place in the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League.

The next season, Van der Vaart was appointed as team captain. However, once again, injury was to shroud his contribution to the side. In his injury forced absence, Hamburg spiraled into the relagation zone, only winning once before the winter break. Van der Vaart's return to the side had an immediate impact, especially in the UEFA Champions League where he scored three goals in three games, giving Hamburg hopes of making it to the round of 16. However, results elsewhere went against Hamburg and they finished last in their group. Van der Vaart however, received heavy praise for his performances.^[5] With attention squarely focused on domestic matters, Van der Vaart led his team out of the relegation zone with a series of victories over Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen and FC Schalke 04; riding Van der Vaart's wave of form through to the end of the season, Hamburg finished in seventh place, and in so doing achieved the unthinkable by qualifying for Europe for another season.

van der Vaart has been in fine form for Hamburg this season, currently leading them to 2nd place in the German Bundesliga thanks to his ten goals and has also played a significant part in Hamburg's UEFA Cup success this season, where they reached the Round of 16.

His performances this season for Hamburg have drawn the attention of several giants including Chelsea^[6], Internazionale^[7], Juventus^[8] and Valencia^[9]. However, van der Vaart has stated that he will stay at Hamburg until the end of this season at least^[10], but has decided not to sign a new contract extension ^[11] while he had earlier not ruled out a contract extension with HSV.^[12].

[edit] International career

Rafael van der Vaart made his international debut against Andorra on October 6 2001. He was a member of the squads that participated in Euro 2004 and the 2006 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. 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. 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. He is part of the Netherlands squad that will compete at Euro 2008.

[edit] Club statistics

All-Time Club Performance^[13]

Club	Season	Domestic League		Domestic Cups[14]		Continental games[15]		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Hamburger SV	07-08	29	12	4	4	11	5	44	21
	06-07	26	8	0	0	5	3	31	11
	05-06	19	9	2	0	9	7	30	16
	Total	74	29	6	4	25	15	105	48
Ajax	04-05	22	6	?	?	7	1	29	7
	03-04	26	7	?	?	7	1	33	8
	02-03	21	18	?	?	6	2	27	20
	01-02	20	14	?	?	2	2	22	16
	00-01	27	7	?	?	?	?	27	7
	99-00	1	0	?	?	?	?	1	0
	Total	117	52	?	?	22	6	139	58
Career Totals		181	81	?	?	45	20	244	106
Last updated February 27, 2008

[edit] Individual awards

• 1999, 2000, 2001: Talent of the Year at Ajax Amsterdam
• 2001: Amsterdam Sportsman of the Year
• 2002: Amsterdam Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP)
• 2002: Talent of the Year of Europe

[edit] Awards (at Ajax)

• 2001-2002: National Championship, Amstel Cup, Amsterdam Tournament
• 2002-2003: Amsterdam Tournament, Johan Cruijff Schaal
• 2003-2004: National Championship

Awards
Preceded by Arnold Bruggink	Dutch Football Talent of the Year 2000 – 2001	Succeeded by Robin van Persie
Preceded by Marten Eikelboom	Amsterdam Sportsman of the Year 2001	Succeeded by Edwin de Nijs
Preceded by N/A	AFC Ajax Talent of the year 2000	Succeeded by John Heitinga

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Rafael van der Vaart FIFA competition record
• Rafael van der Vaart Online - The Official Website
• Rafael van der Vaart profile and stats at Wereld van Oranje (Dutch)

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v • d • e Netherlands squad - Euro 2004 1 van der Sar • 2 Reiziger • 3 Stam • 4 Bouma • 5 van Bronckhorst • 6 Cocu • 7 van der Meyde • 8 Davids • 9 Kluivert • 10 van Nistelrooy • 11 van der Vaart • 12 Makaay • 13 Westerveld • 14 Sneijder • 15 F. de Boer • 16 Overmars • 17 van Hooijdonk • 18 Heitinga • 19 Robben • 20 Seedorf • 21 Bosvelt • 22 Zenden • 23 Waterreus • Coach: Advocaat

v • d • e Netherlands squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 van der Sar • 2 Jaliens • 3 Boulahrouz • 4 Mathijsen • 5 van Bronckhorst • 6 Landzaat • 7 Kuyt • 8 Cocu • 9 van Nistelrooy • 10 van der Vaart • 11 Robben • 12 Kromkamp • 13 Ooijer • 14 Heitinga • 15 de Cler • 16 Maduro • 17 van Persie • 18 van Bommel • 19 Vennegoor of Hesselink • 20 Sneijder • 21 Babel • 22 Timmer • 23 Stekelenburg • Coach: van Basten

v • d • e Netherlands squad - Euro 2008 1 van der Sar • 2 Ooijer • 3 Heitinga • 4 Mathijsen • 5 van Bronckhorst • 6 De Zeeuw • 7 van Persie • 8 Engelaar • 9 van Nistelrooy • 10 Sneijder • 11 Robben • 12 Melchiot • 13 Timmer • 14 Bouma • 15 De Cler • 16 Stekelenburg • 17 De Jong • 18 Kuyt • 19 Huntelaar • 20 Afellay • 21 Boulahrouz • 22 Vennegoor of Hesselink • 23 van der Vaart • Coach: van Basten