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Van der Vaart is out for the qualifiers
Comments(6)
Rafael van der Vaart is not longer part of the Dutch group preparing for the Luxembourg and Belarus matches. No, van Basten didn’t kick him out because he failed miserably at the WC, Raf is injured. After his brilliant performance against Ireland earlier this month, he cracked a muscle against Hertha BSC and will therefore be out for the next couple of weeks. Marco van Basten will not replace Rafael for the upcoming matches.
That’s a big blow. van der Vaart and Sneijder are to of the starters in midfield. Sneijder is the only player left from the World Cup.
Landzaat and de Jong will start I expect.
Posted from 
Canada
Yep!
@Goose: I agree with you on Raf! He is an awesome player. I’d say his skill and vision is up there with the likes of Zidane, Del Pierro, Van Hanegem. Hope he will get back soon and guide us into the future.
@Mike: Sneijder had a great start this season and is definitely Ajax’ new leader. His uncle, apparently an important man in his life, passed away and his wife is expecting any time now, so things are full on for Wesley. His replacement, Demy de Zeeuw, is an interesting player to watch too.
Posted from 
Australia
Don’t really agree that Van de Vaart failed at the WC. Saw the games he was in the flow – but didn’t quite get it.
But boy is he fragile. He’s getting injured at an alarming rate. Hamburg should make him go to that American strength trainer that Klinsman used.
Get him strong for a few months and only let him on the pitch when he’s really healthy.
Posted from 
United States
Good point Samuel!
In an interview today he said he was over-used, if that’s the right expression. He felt his body gave a signal to take a pause. I think putting him under all this pressure at the WC right after his operation was a wrong decision…
Posted from Australia
vanderVaart will be out for at least 2 months,
im also getting worried at the rate hes getting injured,
thats the problem with those little guys , you need to have the built of a prize-fighter like Rooney to survive…
not only vanderVaart but also Robben en Sneijder are injured all the time..
greetz
Posted from 
Netherlands
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think its a real shame, think that vanderVaart has made real progression the last 1,5 years, think he really has grown (esp. fysic) at HSV, good descission to go to Hamburg and know you get a lot of playing time (hes captain now), think its a shame he wasnt fit during the WC….
greetz
Posted from
Netherlands