Exclusive interview with Rafa van der Vaart, who played for both of tonight's clubs
with distinction and can't wait to watch them do battle with a Champions League
Final place at stake.
Words: Paul Miles
DREAM SCENARIO
ON RAFA'S RETURN
For Rafa van der Vaart, this is a win-win situation. The
two footballing loves of his life collide in the Champions
League semi-final. He can't wait. A modern-day legend
at Spurs despite only playing two seasons here, Rafa
grew up, literally, at Ajax. He came through the Dutch
club's famed youth system after joining the Amsterdam giants
aged 10. He made his debut at 17 and scored 63 goals in 156
appearances in all competitions before moving to SV Hamburg
in Germany in 2005.
Five years later, he landed at Spurs, after two seasons at Real
Madrid. Ajax are rightly Rafa's team but he looks back at his two
years at our club with such fondness. He says Spurs 'gave back
to me the joy of playing football'.
And he delivered. Rafa scored 28 goals in 77 appearances for
us in all competitions, including the opener in ourfamous 3-1 win
against holders Internazionale in the Champions League, three
goals in four matches against Arsenal and a screamer in our last
win at Anfield in 2011. But the thing that the fans loved about
Rafa was that he just got it. He knew what mattered and took
that on the field with him.
His feelings about Spurs are well-documented. Speaking
to us exclusively for this interview, he summed it up: "I can
never say enough words about Tottenham. If I say 1,000, I'd
need 2,000.1 always feel at home at Spurs. It's a special club
and that was one of the most special times in my career. It's
like family. It's more than football."
Back to the matter in hand as we meet Ajax over two legs
for a place in the Champions League Final. The second leg is
at the Johan Cruyff Arena next Wednesday and Rafa will be
at both. He helped both clubs reach the quarter-finals of the
competition, Ajax in 2002/03 when they were narrowly beaten
by Milan and then us in 2010/11, when he says we were'fearless'
on our way to the last eight, where we lost to Real Madrid.
"This tie is a dream for me, I have two clubs I love and one
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