Van der Vaart began his career atAjax'syouth academy and worked his way into the first team, debuting as a 17-year-old. Known for hisplaymaking skills, he drew comparisons toJohan Cruyff. He was namedDutch Football Talent of the Year and became the first recipient of theGolden Boy Award while at the club. He moved toBundesliga clubHamburger SV, then toReal Madrid, then on toTottenham Hotspur before returning to Hamburger SV in 2012. In the latter stages of his career, Van der Vaart had brief spells playing in Spain and Denmark before announcing his retirement in 2018, and return in 2019 with a testimonial match.
Van der Vaart was born inHeemskerk, North Holland, to a Dutch father and a Spanish mother fromChiclana de la Frontera,Cádiz, who had moved to the Netherlands weeks after birth.[5] He grew up on acaravan park, belonging toDutch Travellers called the Woonwagenbewoners, who had ties to theIrish Travellers and theYenish people, and he often pretended to beRomário while playing football.[6][7] It was at the trailer park that he learned how to play football and, before joiningAjax, he played for a local club called De Kennemers based inBeverwijk. At the age of ten, he joined the Ajax Academy.[7] Van der Vaart has said of his upbringing: "That was the way my family lived. My father was born there and it is a lifestyle. Maybe it is not a normal lifestyle but I always liked it. I always played football on the street. It was an easy life, then I was 10 years old and went to Ajax and played there for almost 12 years."[8]
Van der Vaart came through the ranks at Ajax with national teammatesJohn Heitinga andWesley 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 withDen Bosch on 19 April 2000 in the1999–00 season. After he broke into the Ajax first team, Van der Vaart was "hailed as the newJohan Cruyff".[9][10]
In the2000–01 season, Ajax managerCo Adriaanse increased Van der Vaart's playing time by moving him to theattacking midfielder position. He was voted European Talent of the Year by Italian football website CalcioManager.[11]
Thenext season, Van der Vaart suffered a serious knee injury againstRKC Waalwijk on 10 February 2002 which required an operation that involved the removal of his entiremeniscus. This injury forced him to miss the run-in to Ajax's successfulEredivisie campaign and their Dutch Cup triumph againstUtrecht in the 2001–02 season, but it did not stop him being named the Netherlands' Talent of the Year, mainly thanks to the 15 goals in just 27 games that he scored before the incident.[citation needed]
In2002–03, Ajax won theAmsterdam Tournament, though injury limited Van der Vaart to 21 league appearances, in which he scored 18 goals.[12] After his return to fitness, he scored a vital goal in theUEFA Champions League away toLyon, which propelled Ajax into the knockout stages.[citation needed]
In the first half of2003–04, his performances were poor. Van der Vaart admitted he was overweight, and the media criticized his celebrity lifestyle with his then-fiancée,The Music FactoryVJSylvie Meis.[13] He became an influential figure once again as Ajax claimed another league title. By that stage, Van der Vaart had firmly established himself as one of the stars of the Ajax team, as well as one of the most popular players in the Netherlands.[citation needed]
Van der Vaart was named team captain by coachRonald Koeman for the2004–05 season. During an international match againstSweden on 18 August 2004, he was injured by then-Ajax teammateZlatan Ibrahimović, which led to the sale of Ibrahimović toJuventus two weeks later, following controversial accusations that the Swede had intentionally tried to hurt Van der Vaart.[14] He was unhappy at being played out of position, and following his refusal to play on the wing in a Champions League match in December, he was stripped of the team captaincy by Koeman.[15]
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.[citation needed]
At this point, Van der Vaart's performances were attracting interest from some of Europe's top clubs. He had previously been strongly linked toMilan, but in the summer of 2005, he signed forBundesliga outfitHamburger SV in Germany. Van der Vaart's €5.5 million transfer to Hamburg, on 1 June 2005,[16] raised many eyebrows. Many other top-flight clubs had shown interest in the midfielder but he chose Hamburg. Ajax legend Johan Cruyff himself commented in hisDe Telegraaf column: "I don't know what to say about it or what Rafael van der Vaart is doing in Hamburg."[17] He played a massive part in Hamburg's impressive away form that season, scoring in each of their first four games on the road; in fact, in the course of his first one and a half seasons with the German club, they did not lose a single match away from home while he was on the pitch. Van der Vaart finished hisfirst season as the team's top scorer as Hamburg finished third in the league and won the2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup.[citation needed]
He assumed the team captaincy for the2006–07 season. This season proved to be a difficult one for his club, and despite Van der Vaart's three goals in the Champions League group stages, they made an early exit from the competition, while languishing for several months in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table as Van der Vaart was troubled by injuries throughout the season. The arrival of Van der Vaart's countrymanHuub Stevens as head coach, however, saw Hamburg march up the standings and they finished the season in a respectable seventh place, qualifying for, and also winning, the Intertoto Cup.[citation needed]
After garnering interest fromReal Madrid from Spain, Van der Vaart responded by saying, "I am set to spend another season in Hamburg," of which he toldWelt am Sonntag. He further added, "Now we have the team to achieve something." In the2007–08 season, Van der Vaart scored 12 league goals as Hamburg finished fourth in the league, while reaching the round of 16 in theUEFA Cup. During the UEFA Cup away win atFC Zürich, he tore ankle ligaments and was out of action for several weeks. Despite interest from other clubs such asChelsea[18] andValencia,[19] he stated that he would stay at Hamburg until the end of the season, but opted out of signing a contract extension.[20]
"Rafael van der Vaart is a player of great quality, vision and talent. We are certain that he will be a player who will help us complement the already very strong squad we have."
Towards the end of the 2007–08 season, Van der Vaart was linked to a move to several clubs includingAtlético Madrid and Juventus. Atlético made a €15 million bid for the Dutchman,[22] 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.[23] He signed a five-year contract for an undisclosed amount.[24] Van der Vaart debuted in a 2–1 pre-season win four days later, against Colombian sideIndependiente, where he scored the equalising goal and provided an assist for the winner.[25]
He changed his squad number from 19 to his favoured number 23 after teammateWesley Sneijder took number 10 followingRobinho's departure toManchester City on 31 August.[26] He marked his league debut for Real Madrid with a strike againstNumancia in a 4–3 victory. On 24 September, he scored his first career hat-trick in a 7–1 thrashing ofSporting de Gijón.[27] In October2008, Van der Vaart was one of the many La Liga players to be nominated for theBallon d'Or, but the award eventually went toManchester United forward and future teammateCristiano Ronaldo.[28] For the latter part of the2008–09 season, Van der Vaart was mostly utilised as an impact substitute by coachJuande Ramos, which led to speculations of a fall-out between coach and player. Despite transfer rumours linking him withArsenal,Chelsea andLiverpool, he denied having any links with the English clubs.[29]
During 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 coachManuel Pellegrini. His number 23 jersey was even handed toEsteban Granero in preseason, leaving him without a squad number. Towards the end of the summertransfer window, however, 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 Sneijder,Arjen Robben andKlaas-Jan Huntelaar were forced to leave the club. Van der Vaart was handed his original number 23 jersey while Granero was given number 24. After a wait of four games, Van der Vaart was finally included in Pellegrini's squad list to faceVillarreal on 23 September.[30] An injury toKaká gave Van der Vaart a chance to establish himself as a key player for Real Madrid again. On 20 December, he scored two goals in a 6–0 win againstReal Zaragoza. He scored his last goal for Real Madrid againstMálaga on 16 May 2010. Van der Vaart stated his desire to stay at Real Madrid, at least until the end of his contract.[31]
On 31 August 2010, two hours before the transfer window closed,Tottenham Hotspur made an offer of £8 million for Van der Vaart. According to Spurs managerHarry Redknapp, an £18 million transfer toBayern Munich had collapsed the day before and Van der Vaart had suddenly become much cheaper, although such a price reduction was later denied by Real Madrid.[32][33][34] Due to problems with computer servers used in the transaction between Tottenham and Real Madrid, preventing the necessary paperwork from being completed, Spurs requested special dispensation from thePremier League to allow the transfer to proceed.[33][35] The Premier League confirmed on 1 September that the transfer had been permitted after they gave Tottenham special dispensation due to "technical problems". He signed a four-year contract atWhite Hart Lane.[36][37][38] It was announced that Van der Vaart would wear the number 11 shirt for Spurs.[39] Van der Vaart later denied speculation that he had been a failure at Real Madrid, stating 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.[40][41]
Van der Vaart with Tottenham Hotspur
Van der Vaart made his Premier League debut for Spurs in a 1–1 draw againstWest Bromwich Albion on 11 September 2010,[42] and hisChampions League bow for the club three days later againstWerder Bremen, providing an assist forPeter Crouch in a 2–2 draw.[43][44] Van der Vaart scored his first Premier League goal from the penalty spot in a 3–1 win againstWolverhampton Wanderers on 18 September.[45][46] After starting his Spurs career by scoring three goals in four Premier League matches, and with a goal and an assist in two Champions League matches, Van der Vaart was named Goal.com World Player of the Week on 4 October 2010.[47] He was later namedPremier League Player of the Month for October.[48]
Ahamstring injury kept Van der Vaart out of action for much of December,[49] but he returned to the Tottenham side on 26 December, scoring both goals in a 2–1 away win overAston Villa.[50] On 20 April 2011, Van der Vaart revived Tottenham's Champions League ambitions by scoring twice to hold North London rivals Arsenal to a 3–3 draw at White Hart Lane. After losing to Manchester City and being knocked out of the Champions League race, Spurs travelled toAnfield. Van der Vaart scored from 25 yards out in a 2–0 win that put Tottenham in position to secure qualification for the Europa League. He ended the season as Spurs' top scorer in the Premier League, scoring 13 goals – nearly a quarter of Tottenham's total – while also providing the most assists, with nine.[51]
Van der Vaart scored his first two Premier League goals ofthe following season againstWigan Athletic[52] and Arsenal.[53]Van der Vaart scored a penalty away againstNewcastle United on 16 October to keep up a good run of goal scoring form and also scored twice in the 2–1 win overBlackburn Rovers.[54] On 30 October, scored in a 3–1 win overQueens Park Rangers, equalling a Tottenham record by scoring in five consecutive Premier League matches, a record he shares withTeddy Sheringham andRobbie Keane.[55] On 31 December, he scored away toSwansea City, converting aBenoît Assou-Ekotto cross.[56] Van der Vaart scored a long-range effort againstWatford in theFA Cup to send Tottenham through to the next round of the competition with a 1–0 victory. He was on the pitch at White Hart Lane on 17 March 2012 whenBolton Wanderers midfielderFabrice Muamba went into cardiac arrest; Van der Vaart later described it as "horrible to witness ... the absolute low in my football career".[57]
On 31 August 2012, Van der Vaart returned to his former club, Hamburger SV.[58] He would wear his favourite 23 number on the shirt and was announced as club's vice-captain. On 16 September, he made his second debut with HSV in a match againstEintracht Frankfurt. On 22 September, Van der Vaart provided two assists againstBorussia Dortmund, contributing to two crucial goals in a 3–2 win. He scored his first goal of the season in a 2–2 away draw againstBorussia Mönchengladbach, later suffering a serious injury that left him out of action for several months.[citation needed]
Van der Vaart made his return to action on 20 January 2013 againstNürnberg in a 1–1 draw. On 9 April, he was named the club's captain, succeedingHeiko Westermann. Not having scored for almost two months, Van der Vaart scored a brace on 20 April 2013 againstFortuna Düsseldorf in a 2–1 home win. Hamburg later decided not to give van der Vaart a contract extension.[59]
Van der Vaart joined newly promoted Spanish clubReal Betis on a free transfer in June 2015.[60] He made his debut for the club on 24 September in a 2–1La Liga defeat toDeportivo.[61] His performance turned out to be a fiasco.[62] He finally left the club on 30 June 2016, accumulating just 296 minutes of playing time in the 2015–2016 season.[63]
On 31 July 2016, Van der Vaart was spotted in a skybox atMCH Arena just outsideHerning alongside agents Alan Hvedehave andMikkel Beckmann, both before and during the league game betweenDanish Superliga clubsFC Midtjylland andSilkeborg.[64] Following the match, in a live interview with DanishEurosport 2, Midtjylland sporting director Claus Steinlein denied any ongoing negotiations, stating that Midtjylland would not be able to live up to Van der Vaart's economic demands.[65] Just four days later, however, ahead of the2016–17 UEFA Europa League third round qualifying match againstVideoton, Steinlein confirmed that the club was in fact trying to work out a deal with him.[66]
On 10 August, Van der Vaart joined Midtjylland on a two-year deal.[67] Eighteen days later, he made his Superliga debut, as a substitute forPaul Onuachu in a 0–0 draw away to local rivalsViborg.[68] Less than a month later, in his fourth appearance for his new side, he scored his first goal in a 5–2 win at home against promoted teamHorsens.[69] After coming in as a substitute in a match againstLyngby on 28 May 2017 he was selected for only one of the first team's matches until 9 February 2018 where he was on the bench in a 2–0 win against Horsens.[70] On 18 February 2018 Van der Vaart made his first appearance for the first team in the2017–18 season coming in as a substitute in the 90th minute.[71] He toldNOS, "I wasn't selected for half a year. That's why this is a celebration for me. Not playing is awful."[72]
On 4 August 2018 it was made public that Van der Vaart had signed a one-year contract withEsbjerg in the same league.[4] He had been training with them since his FC Midtjylland had ended.[73] He was presented to the fans at theEsbjerg Stadium before a league game againstRanders, which ended in a 3–3 draw.[74] On 4 November, having been struggling with recurring injuries, he announced he would retire from professional football with immediate effect.[75]
On 22 August 2019 Van der Vaart confirmed, that he would play a game for Esbjerg's reserves in the ninth tier of football in Denmark.[76] Due to his relationship with handball playerEstavana Polman, he was still living inEsbjerg, as she was playing forTeam Esbjerg.[citation needed]
Van der Vaart gained the notice of the youth team coaches and was called up for the youth squads. He played in the2001 FIFA World Youth Championship with present senior teammatesMaarten Stekelenburg andJohn 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 againstAndorra on 6 October 2001.[77] He was a member of the squads that participated inEuro 2004,Euro 2008,Euro 2012, the2006 World Cup and the2010 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. He was however, vice-captain during the2010 World Cup andEuro 2012 behindGiovanni van Bronckhorst andMark van Bommel respectively. On 15 August 2012, Van der Vaart earned his 100th cap for the Netherlands in the 2–4 loss againstBelgium in afriendly match.
Van der Vaart was used to wear the number 23 or 10 jersey while playing for his country.
A sub-par performance by the Dutch during their opening game of Euro 2004 persuaded then managerDick Advocaat to change the side's formation into one which he felt the talented Van der Vaart did not fit into. With Advocaat's new system seemingly working, Van der Vaart would be reduced to play a bit-part role at Euro 2004, asOranje reached the semi-finals before losing to hostsPortugal.
Despite that setback, Van der Vaart produced some superlative performances in theBundesliga 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 World Cup. However, niggling injury problems resurfaced, and Van der Vaart was not risked by Dutch coachMarco van Basten for the opening World Cup encounter againstSerbia 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, Van der Vaart was reduced to a bit-part role in the squad as they exited the competition in the round of 16 againstPortugal.
Van der Vaart was called up forEuro 2008 despite missing several qualification matches due to an ankle injury. As 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 eitherDirk Kuyt orRobin van Persie, behind lone strikerRuud van Nistelrooy to great effect. In the opening game of the competition, the Dutch team won 3–0 against the world championsItaly 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 againstFrance; theOranje later went on to win 4–1. Despite an impressive group stage performance, the Dutch suffered a disappointing quarter-final exit at the hands ofRussia.
Despite enduring a tough time at club level,[78] Van der Vaart remained a first-choice player for Van Basten's successorBert van Marwijk in the2010 World Cup qualifiers. On 10 September 2008, he ended a ten-month goal drought with a vital strike againstMacedonia in a 2–1 win.[79] He ended the campaign with 2 goals and several important assists. On 12 August 2009, Van der Vaart captained the Dutch in the absence ofGiovanni van Bronckhorst in a friendly againstEngland. He scored the second goal off aGareth Barry mistake to put the Netherlands two goals up in the first half butJermain Defoe netted a brace to seal a 2–2 draw.[80] Van der Vaart was in the starting line-up for the three group matches in the 2010 World Cup, againstDenmark,[81][82]Japan[83] andCameroon,[84] 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.[85] He was brought off the pitch after giving away a penalty to Cameroon by blocking the ball with his arm from a free-kick.[86] However, he made another appearance in the semi-final againstUruguay, after coming on for the injuredDemy de Zeeuw.[87] He helpedOranje win the match 3–2, thus sending them to thefinal.[88] He also played in the final against Spain, substitutingNigel de Jong just before injury time. Netherlands lost the game 1–0 to a goal fromAndrés Iniesta.[89] He was handed the captain's armband during the match, after Giovanni van Bronckhorst was substituted off.[90]
Van der Vaart made his Euro 2012 debut as a sub in the first match against Denmark – a match they went on to lose. In the second match againstGermany, again he was a substitute, but came on for Dutch captain Mark van Bommel and took the captain's armband. In the second half he created more attacking chances, which led to a goal, but they again lost the match. In the final group match againstPortugal, Van der Vaart started as captain, and scored a goal that gave the Netherlands a glimmer of hope to get out of the group. However, two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal a 2–1 win and knocked out the Netherlands.
Van der Vaart was named inLouis van Gaal's provisional 30-man squad for the2014 World Cup, but withdrew on 28 May, three days before the final squad was named, due to a calf injury that he suffered in training.[91]
On 10 June 2005, Van der Vaart marriedSylvie 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.[92]
In the summer of 2009, Real Madrid wanted to sell Van der Vaart, but the player decided to stay inMadrid because his wife was undergoing cancer treatment there.[93] A year later, upon his move to England, Van der Vaart stated, "She had a very serious illness and it is true that she had to be treated at the Clinica Quiron. Last season, they wanted me to leave but I couldn't leave for that reason. Now she is well and the only thing that happened was that Madrid wanted to sell and I wanted to get back to enjoying playing football, and Tottenham are a great team that are going to give me the football opportunities that I need."[93]
In 2010, Van der Vaart found out through emails that his wife was having an affair with a KLM airline pilot.[94] On New Year's Eve 2012, Van der Vaart and his wife separated. Their son Damián signed for the youth team ofAjax in September 2023.[95]
Since August 2016, Van der Vaart has been in a relationship with Dutchhandball playerEstavana Polman[96] who played for Danish clubTeam Esbjerg. This was the main reason he moved to Denmark and chose to play for Midtjylland. On 27 December 2016, they announced that they were expecting a child.[97][unreliable source?] Their daughter Jesslynn was born in June 2017.[98]
On 10 August 2021, Van der Vaart was hired in his first coaching role as an assistant coach toPeter Hyballa at his former clubEsbjerg.[99] Van der Vaart had lived inEsbjerg for the past five years due to his relationship with handball playerEstavana Polman, who was playing forTeam Esbjerg.[100] On 27 January 2023 the club confirmed, that Van der Vaart's contract had been terminated by mutual agreement.[101]
In April 2019, Van der Vaart began a professional darts career, joining theBritish Darts Organisation.[102] On 4 May, Van der Vaart made his debut at theDenmark Open, winning his first round match 4–2 against Thomas Anderson before being knocked out in the second round 4–0 by Mogens Christensen.[103]
^Hughes, Rob (9 June 2004)."Emerging Dutch master"(reprint hosted by NewsBank).The Straits Times. Retrieved13 January 2012.'Before the winter break in Holland,' he admits, 'my performances were terrible. Some of it was caused by my being overweight, and a lot of critics said my relationship with Sylvie Meis was the cause of my dip in form.' Sylvie Meis is the Dutch television celebrity who turns the heads of many a young man. The stories about her leading Rafael astray are, he claims, over the top. 'People said because of her I wasn't focused on football and went to too many parties,' he says.
