Van der Vaart’s best matches
Ajax 2 Feyenoord 0 November 30, 2003 Eredivisie
“As a young kid playing at Ajax, I dreamed of scoring against our rivals Feyenoord. I’d heard that legends were born in these big games. In November 2003, I was captain against them when we won 2- 0 – and scored both goals. The first one was really special, with a backheel kick over my head. I immediately knew that I would never score a goal like that again. During a career you can hit some screamers from outside the box, but this was one of a kind. It was my most memorable goal at Ajax, working on pure instinct. My son tried to reproduce the backheel for an Instagram challenge from Ajax, but it didn’t work out. He needs to practise some more!” [ Laughs]
Netherlands 3 Italy 0 June 9, 2008 European Championship
“One of the best games of my generation with Holland. We started our Euro 2008 against the world champions, Italy – and outclassed them. Everything fell into place for us that evening in Bern, and we were all in great shape at that tournament. After Italy, we beat France 4- 1. Marco van Basten was our coach and showed a lot of confidence in me. Under him, we played like Dutch teams of the past that the world knew: with entertaining, attacking football and many creative players. It’s sad we had one bad night, though, and went out of the tournament after extra time against Russia in the quarter- finals.”
Netherlands 4 Sweden 1 October 12, 2010 Euro 2012 qualifier
“I haven’t chosen a game from the 2010 World Cup, because we lost the final against Spain and I wasn’t a starter at that tournament. But a few months after South Africa, we had a home game against Sweden in qualifying for Euro 2012. When you have nothing to do for an hour and a half, put this game on – it was almost perfect for us. It was also probably my best game for the national team, but Ibrahim Afellay was also on fire and scored two goals. I remember nutmegging Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who I had a score to settle with after our period at Ajax and an incident in a game against Sweden in 2004 [ where Van der Vaart was injured by an Ibrahimovic tackle].”
Tottenham 3 Arsenal 3 April 20, 2011 Premier League
“It was a Wednesday in late April but felt more like a summer evening. There were 36,000 fans at White Hart Lane, although it felt like there were 100,000. It was one of the most entertaining games I have ever played in, and I think it was my best game at Spurs. I scored two goals: one with my right foot and one from the penalty spot. I was very sad that the game ended after 90 minutes – I wish I could have played for another three hours that evening. When I visit London and meet Tottenham fans, they still talk about that match. I had some great years there.” Guus Hetterscheid