Rafael van der Vaart

Dutch footballer, captain of Hamburg, played for the Netherlands in Euro 2004 and in the 2006 World Cup.

Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (born 11 February 1983) is a Dutch footballer who captains Bundesliga side Hamburger SV and plays for the Dutch national team. Van der Vaart was born to a Spanish mother and a Dutch father in Heemskerk, in North Holland. He has scored 11 goals in 44 caps for the national team.
At the age of ten, Rafael van der Vaart was enrolled in a youth trial in Amsterdam for Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam. His talent was quickly noticed and he eventually joined AFC Ajax on a trial basis. It was soon decided that young Rafael was allowed to continue to stay at the club.
Ajax officially announced the sale of van der Vaart for an estimated fee of €5.5m to Hamburger SV on June 1, 2005.
His previous clubs were Ajax and De Kennemers in his hometown of Heemskerk. Van der Vaart played for the Netherlands in Euro 2004 and in the 2006 World Cup. He married Sylvie Meis, on June 10, 2005, and their first child, Damián Rafael, was born May 28, 2006.
Rafael van der Vaart made his international debut against Andorra on October 6 2001. He was a member of the squads that participated in Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup. Despite figuring prominently in a number of qualifying stage matches, van der Vaart has had a lack of luck when it came to the final tournament. A sub-par performance by the Dutch during their opening game of EURO 2004 persuaded the then-Holland coach Dick Advocaat to change the side's formation, which he felt the talented van der Vaart did not fit in to. With Advocaat's new system seemingly working, van der Vaart would be reduced to play a bit-part role at EURO 2004, as the Oranje reached the semifinals. Despite that setback, van der Vaart produced some superlative performances in the Bundesliga the following season, and it seemed that van der Vaart's turn to shine on the big stage was to finally come -- at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, niggling injury problems resurfaced, and van der Vaart was not risked by Dutch coach Marco Van Basten for the Netherlands' opening World Cup encounter. With victory in that opening game, the national team coach would once again decide to continue fielding a van der Vaart-less lineup. And once again, Rafael van der Vaart was reduced to a bit-part role in the squad. Despite all his personal disappointments, Rafael van der Vaart not only continues to perform for his country, but has been on the scoresheet more often than not in recent friendlies and EURO 08 qualifiers.

HSV
11 February 1983
Source: Wikipedia