Rafael: Sylvie is more important than football

Rafael van der Vaart doesn’t have it easy. Not because he doesn’t get to play for Real Madrid so much. Nor is it because Bert van Marwijk overlooked him at first. Raf is going through a difficult time because the light of his life, tv-personality Sylvie Meis, was recently diagnosed with cancer. Sylvie is going through the grind: radiation and chemotherapie.

Raf is the first to admit that his place at Madrid is giving him some headaches, but most of all he says: my wife means more to me than football…

Vaart is part of Oranje Down Under Troupe by virtue of Van Persie staying home to witness his second baby getting born.

But Vaart’s career is not the most important thing, these days. The creative midfielder realized that for his career it would be best to leave Madrid. But Sylvie was just operated on for her breast cancer and they both have tremendous faith in the Spanish surgeon who treats her.

“Football is not the only thing that counts, at the moment,” he says. “I needed to be close to my wife and my son. There was no offer on the table that felt unmissable… The decision to stay was easy for me, although I did realize I could jeopardize my Oranje spot. I do have a good connection with the coach and he did tell me that if I wouldn’t play regularly, he wouldn’t select me. I had peace with that for now, so being able to join the group to Australia was a pleasant surprise.”
Van Marwijk had difficulties with neglecting Van der Vaart. The coach is a huge fan of the creative wizzard but he also highly respects Rafael’s decision to put his family first. “Van der Vaart showed guts with his decision to stay. It says a lot about his character. Some people criticize him for staying with Real, I think he’s made the right decision. Maybe not for Oranje, but most certainly for his family.”

“I accept the consequences,” the reserve-skipper of Oranje said. “But it also gives me a good feeling that I’m present now, with all the absentees. Sylvie is happy for me. She’s doing much better now and I’m very content with that, obviously.”

And just when Van Marwijk decided to overlook Van der Vaart, he became a regular part of the match selections in Madrid and he even played some minutes as a sub against Sevilla and Villareal. “I’ve worked very hard for that. I want to be the best at training, and the coach picked that up. He talks to me and gives me the impression I’m part of the club.”

When Pellegrini wanted Van der Vaart out, the coach made the ex Ajax star train separately from the group. “Yeah, that’s how the professional football world works. It’s how it is. If you break up a relationship, it’s never nice. There’s no way to do it gently. But I don’t have any hard feelings. Life could be worse at the moment. Sylvie is progressing, I get some playing time and now I’m here. It was tough time, but it made me stronger.”

Sylvie Meis recently made an appearance on Dutch tv, showing off her blond wig. Rafael convinced her to shave off her hair and go for the wig. She started to lose her hair due to the preventive chemotherapy. Sylvie: “Raf saw how hurt I was every time I washed my hair or combed it and I lost more hair. He said, instead of being sad every day, just do it in one go. Take it off and wear the wig.”

She has a new wig now, with a fringe. “Rafael hasn’t even seen this one. For me, it’s a process… I was always proud of my own hair and liked to look good. This is a hard but good way of learning that you can lose your hair but you don’t necessarely loose your beauty. I try to find it within now, and Rafael still loves me, so….”