Rafael van der Vaart

Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart, born on 11 February 1983, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He began at the Ajax youth academy and debuted for the first team as a 17 year old, known for his playmaking and compared to Johan Cruyff. At Ajax he was named Dutch Football Talent of the Year and became the first recipient of the Golden Boy Award. He later played for Hamburger SV, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, returned to Hamburger SV in 2012, and had brief spells in Spain and Denmark before announcing his retirement in 2018. He earned 109 caps for the Netherlands between 2001 and 2013, playing at three European Championships and two World Cups and reaching the 2010 final. In 2019 he began a darts career with the British Darts Organisation.