Rafael learned his lesson in the end…

He visited Tcheu La Ling in 2005 and he suddenly saw the light. “I wouldn’t make it on my talent alone. The tests I did were clear. I had to do something…”, says Rafael van der Vaart now.

Days before the official start of Oranje’s new season we discuss the criticism Foppe de Haan has on his youngsters in Jong Oranje. It’s the same discussion we had in the past, about the likes of Vaart, Sneijder, Van Persie, De Jong and many others.

“I was on a dead-end street at Ajax,” remembers Rafael. “I played pretty good games, but I missed the edge. The spice. I didn’t feel 100% and people started to criticize me. (Former Ajax right winger) Sjaak Swart adviced me to visit (other former Ajax right winger) Tcheu La Ling, has a company advicing athletes on nutrition.”

The golden boy didn’t want to do it. But he did go and did some tests with La Ling. The results told Van der Vaart that he ate 80% fats and hardly any proteins and carbs. And it’s the carbs that give you the energy in an interval sports like football. It was clear: the son of a Spanish mum and Dutch dad played on his talent and his talent alone.

“Ling told me to talk to physio Dick van Toorn. He analyzed my skeleton and muscle systems and gave me specific excercises. By now, we’re working together for 2,5 years and I played a full season last year without any injuries. My experience tells me that it isn’t bad for a young player to be confronted with set backs and criticism. It’s normal for 20 year olds to screw up from time to time. Whether it’s with football or other stuff. And they don’t do this on purpose. It’s what we call learning, I suppose. And you need to sometimes go through it. Hearing it from someone else isn’t the same thing as actually experiencing it.”

This Wednesday, Raf will commence another WC qualification tournament at 25 years old. In 2004, Oranje played Macedonia as well. The young and criticized talents of 2004 are now the new leaders of Oranje. Bert van Marwijk was the first to praise Robin van Persie’s progress. The team manager: “It’s easy for me to see the enormous growth Robin went trough, because I worked intensely with him at Feyenoord. He has really grown. Literally too, by the way. He will lead the teams he plays in more and more.”

Van Marwijk said the following about Rafael van der Vaart: “I saw Raf play his second game for Real Madrid. You could tell from the stands that his team mates had accepted him amongst them immediately. Raf isn’t a talker, really, but when you play as good as him, you don’t have to. Players recognize class when they see a new player pass his first ball or control a ball.”

Raf’s first impressions of Bert van Marwijk are also positive. “I see a coach who is relaxed and confident. I think that’s important and I have been really lucky in that respect in the last years. Thomas Doll at HSV was a great guy. Stevens was more the boss, very disciplined, but we needed that then. Marco van Basten resembled my coach in the youth teams, hahahaha. Minutes before the game, when the pressure was on and everyone was tense, he’d suddenly say: So Raf, are you going to do some fun stuff with the ball today?”.

“Van Marwijk likes some Dutch arrogance, he told us. That’s part of the Dutch style. Maybe a backheel here or there, as long as you do it in a situation where it’s possible. I like his style.”

De new Madrid midfielder understands that expectations are high. “We showed the world our level against Italy and France and we should keep that as our benchmark.”

Raf thinks it’s great that even the bleakest pessimists thought Oranje played good. “We have the name to infight at big tournaments. Well, this time we didn’t. We should try to keep the vibe as it is and work hard to show our skill in South Africa. And win the title there in style!”

“The defeat at the EC against Russia hurt a lot and the pain was there for quite a while. Against Russia, nothing worked. We had some bad luck too, I feel. We had three major chances from set pieces. We scored against Italy. Against Russia, we didn’t. I’m sure we would have won if we had scored one of those…”

In that case, no one would have talked that long about Van Persie stealing the free kick off Wesley”s feet? “Oh, we discussed that at length in the group. And it’s over and done with. We need to make strict agreements for those cases and stick to them. But, let’s face it, if Robin had scored, I would have kissed him. And so would Wes. Such a situation is part of football and part of the learning process.”