Ryan Brown with Rafael van der Vaart in Sydney after the friendly Oranje played there in 2009… More of Ryan’s pics soon!
After our Bert van Marwijk interview, here’s the first player interview ever on this blog. I mean, interviewed by us, basically… 
Here goes:
Raf, you’re on of the most gifted players from Holland ever and you come across as an open, normal, happy go lucky bloke. Although you did suffer some setbacks. The Ajax exit, the Real Madrid humiliation, being sacrificed at Oranje for “balance”, injuries and most recently your wife Sylvie’s disease… How do you cope? Do you have some mental coach you follow or what?
“I do believe I had my fair share of setbacks, but the biggest one was obviously Sylvie’s. And the way she worked at it and managed it and dealt with it gave me tremendous strength too. I have a lot of admiration for her power and strength and my setbacks were not that big compared to that. I realise everyday I’m blessed with the fact I make my money doing what I love best: playing football. I’m outside, I’m having fun, I have a great and loving relationship, strong family ties, a fantastic family of myself and a good bond with my brother…. These are the things that matter and that keep me going.”
You probably were gifted all your talents from our creator and most likely some football genes from family? But who were the people who formed you when you were young, as a player?
“That was my dad, without any competition. From the day I could walk, he played football with me. And I learned a lot from him. And not just the fun and positive things and the tricks but he also taught me what not to do. You see, he was a good player himself but he also enjoyed going out and having a beer or two and he learned the hard way that you can not do both. If you want to succeed in topsport, you have to sacrifice certain things.”
In our eyes, you are one of the best players on the planet. At what age did you realise you could be one of the best of the world and how does this affect you?
“I guess my first game with Oranje. I was 18 years old. And was standing between Edgar David and Pat Kluivert and thought…oh my… I realised I could make a great career… And what has this done to me…? Not much really. I think it’s important to stay true to who you are and I think my life is pretty standard actually.”
Which clubs did you admire when you were young?
“I was always impressed with Real Madrid and Barcelona. Two Spanish clubs of course and it was quite amazing when I actually ended up with Real…”
How was it when you were at Real and you were supposed to leave. And how did the stars, like C Ronaldo, Kaka and Sergio Ramos treat you when you were banned…
“It was hard but you can feel it happening. It’s something you can sense in little things. And then the moment comes that you feel it’s best to leave. The players were actually really warm and supportive to me. They didn’t like it that I had to go and felt it wasn’t a good decision by the club and that really supported me.”
Which ex team mates would you actually call “a friend”?
“Joris Mathijssen and Wesley Sneyder.”
Being half Spanish, did the people at Real treat you as a foreigner or as a Spanish player? Was there a lot of fan support as a result or doesn’t it matter what nationality you are?
“All players are treated equal. At Real, they don’t care about nationality but more about your performance. In my last half season, I played everything and played well too and the fans really supported me and adored me. The first game after they let me go, the fans cheered and applauded me in the 23rd minute of that game ( my jersey number) as a form of protest towards management. That actually really touched me.”
You said “no” to Bayern Munich a number of times out of respect for the HSV fans. Did you ever regret that?
“I actually never said no to Bayern. That was fabricated by the media. Bayern never really contacted me. I never had the chance to say no….”
With your Spanish roots, did you ever consider playing for the Spanish team? Did your grandpa – who lives in Spain – never pressure you to wear the Spanish jersey?
“No, he never did that as he is a tremendous Oranje fan!”
Playing in England, it seems like you play more direct. With less tricks. Is that because the game in England is so quick?
“The pace in England is amazing. The quickest I’ve ever had to play. So there is not al of time for trickery. You need to adapt otherwise you won’t make it there. But, if there is some space for me I like to do something creative. That makes football fun.”
Cesc recently said that English football is more hectic and exciting than Spanish football but Spanish football is more intelligent and tactical?
“That is true, I guess. Both are fun. I enjoyed playing in all competitions actually, but they are all different.”
Would you consider playing in the Italian Serie A? You’ve played for big name clubs in Holland, Germany, Spain and England. What club would you want to play for in Italy?
“Yes, I would like to play in Italy actually. Sure. Clubs I like there are Juventus, AC Milan, Inter, Napoli or AS Roma.”
Who was the best player you ever played with?
“Patrick Kluivert.”
What is your favorite goal ever?
“My backheel against Feyenoord”
Which players did you adore when you were young?
“Romario and Marco van Basten”
Best player today?
“Lionel Messi”.
Best coaches you worked with?
“Marco van Basten and Co Adriaanse.”
Will you end your career at Spurs, or HSV or at Ajax.
“If they want me, I’d love to go back to Ajax and end my career there.”
A young Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Heitinga, Nigel de Jong, Pienaar…Zlatan should be out there somewhere too…
It seems sometimes as if you are physically not fit enough to go full blast for 9 minutes? Is that true or is your hamstring giving you grieve?
“I am certainly able to play 90 minutes. I think I’ve demonstrated that. I’m basically fit but did have some hamstring issues. But I only missed 4 games this season so it’s not that bad.”
You played strong in the holding position for Oranje. What is your fave position in the Dutch team and what would be your fave line up for the team?
“Well, I’m going to answer that with the usual cliche, I’m sorry. The coach makes the decision. I play where the coach needs me. I do hope we’ll play the system we used against Sweden, at home. We played very strong and Sweden is not a bad opponent of course.”
Harry Redknapp has a reputation of being able to “reach” his players with his half time talks. What does he say, for instance? And what does it mean that you have an “honest” relationship with him?
“I can’t tell you what he says in the dressing room… That is not done. I’m sorry. And as for our relationship… Harry is extremely direct and honest and I like that. I’m that too and he accepts that from me. So we will be very blunt and direct. Not always fun, but we totally respect one another. You know where you stand. He’s tremendous like that.”
Do you think Spurs should buy more Dutch players? And if yes, who?
“Well, good players are always welcome, no matter where they are born. But we have a good squad now and I think we will actually go for the title.”
What is wrong with your hamstrings, exactly? And do you still follow that La Ling nutrition program?
“I do, yes, that nutrition program works well for me. As for my hamstrings… I don’t think it’s my weak spot. I simply have short muscles as many players have. And hamstrings are obvious injuries for players with short muscles, particularly when it’s cold and the pitch is hard. The media always exaggerate things, as if I’m injury prone. I happen to be out now for three games with a calf injury, but before that I was out maybe three games. I’m 29 years old and played 465 official football games. I have almost 100 international caps. You can’t be injury prone and realise that. I don’t see myself as sensitive like that. But I happen to always play in the thick of things. Opponents always try to mark me or pick me up and I think I have more physical battles than the average player. I get fit quick as a result of Dick van Toorn’s work. He is the best physio ever.”
Young Rafael with Oranje’s 1988 European Cup…
Ajax doesn’t seem to be able to progress in the CL. Do you think Ajax or any other Dutch club will win it sometime soon?
“Well, everything is money related these days. Dutch clubs simply can’t build teams like they used to… It’s going to be sheer impossible to win the CL I think…”
You always said Real is your fave club. But your style would fit Barca too. If they would make you a deal, would you consider it?
“Oh…well, I don’t think the offer will be coming… but if it did, yes I’d entertain the idea.”
The Oranje squad was able to convince coach Van Basten to change the 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1. Do you think you can convince Van Marwijk to go from 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-4-1?
“I don’t know. But I surely hope we can…”
Barca and AS Roma play with false strikers. Would you be able to play the Messi role in Oranje, or Spurs? And who else would you play in Oranje if you were the coach?
“Well, I think I could play there but I don’t think it would be my best position, really. And I won’t go and sit on Van Marwijk’s chair, as we say in Holland. That is his role.”
What other passions do you have besides football? Reading? Collecting stamps?
“I love playing tennis and I like watching tv-series on DVD, like Entourage.”
You have quite a silky touch and tremendous technique. You obviously were born with a lot of talent, but what practices did you do to further develop it?
“This sounds weird, but I never specifically trained for that.”
When you played the Under 17 EC with Huntelaar, Van Persie, Robben…did you talk about playing for the big team? Was that something you discussed?
“Not really. In those days, you were so focused on the here and now. You didn’t plan ahead. You focused on the games and on where you were. It was big, when you are 16 years old to be part of that.”
Do you ever get tired being a famous football player? Always a smile, always needing to be friendly. Never being anonymous…
“I wake up with a smile every morning and a friendly word is not hard to bring up… As a football player, it’s part of the life. You can’t wish for this to happen to you and then you complain when you get there… No, it’s a small sacrifice for the blessed life we live.”
How well do the young lads ( Bruma, Wijnaldum, Strootman) integrate in Oranje? Is there some kind of integration process or is it natural? Which players do you expect to make it big?
“With players, it’s always natural. It’s mainly because these guys’ mindset is in the right place when they join and the coach will select on their attitude as well. They are all talented and respect amongst players is earned with how good you are. That is as simple as that. I do see that the mentality in general is different compared to my early days. When Davids looked at you, you thought you did something wrong. But that is how older players talk, haha… They are all very good, these youngsters but it’s hard to predict how far they will come.”
You played in many youth selections with Robin van Persie. You were the playmaker and he was your understudy. Was there tension between you? And now you both live in London and have arrived, do you hang out?
“I have a great relationship with Robin now. Back then, we were young and your environment sort of has that influence, me being Ajax, he was from Feyenoord… I guess as teenagers you tend to play tough. We have a lot of respect for one another and you do see each other off pitch, but not that much.”
You are also close with Wesley, but he’s also a rival, sort of. How do you deal with that? And is it hard to see him play while you are benched?
“This is absolutely no issue between us. We’re buddies. If he plays and I don’t, I hope he does well and the whole team does well. But we both want to play together as we demonstrated that we can. We know to find eachother blindfolded. We both believe we should always play, haha…”
Bert van Marwijk benched your for the World Cup finals after you had played very strong against Brazil and Uruguay. When Oranje lost, is there a thought like “Shit! If I had played, we would have won it!”.
“Of course not… Listen, I wish I could have started that game, but you win and lose in tournaments with 22 players. You want to support the team, whether you start or sit on the bench…”
Do you support goal line technology?
“Yes I do. I think it’s vital to be able to judge whether a ball was over the line or not, but I wouldn’t want to meddle too much… No video judging for off side and all that. I think football should stay as it is.”
What do you think of the fact that players make so much money while some of the fans are suffering, financially. Look at the Tottenham Riots?
“Pff…that is a hard one. The way this industry works is something the players haven’t created. The clubs operate on the best way they can, I think. To make sure they get good teams and please the fans. I think this is a question for club management. I hate it that people are suffering but what can I do? I try to live a good life and give people value for their money. If I could solve the problems in the world, believe me, I would…”
If all the big guns from Oranje would still play at Real, do you think Oranje would be even better, as you had more time playing together?
“Hard to say, but I don’t think so. We all play in big teams with good players and you play on instinct a lot. I do think that if all of us would be able to play more together, we’d improve. That is why tournaments are different to qualification games. But I don’t think played better with, say, Robben or Huntelaar when we were at Real compared to now…”
So what is the reason we lost the WC2010 finals?
“I don’t think there is a reason, so much. The team with the most luck won. We could have won it too. We had some chances. As did they. I don’t think it was tactics, or a line up thing…”
In our eyes you are one of the best 10 players on the planet. But Dutch players seem to be overlooked by the international media. Why was Sneijder ignored by the 2010 Ballon D’Or thing and was Van Persie ignored in 2011’s Team of the Year?
“I have no idea. It seems that we put the yard stick too high maybe. We got a lot of criticism for our “physical” game at the World Cup. Ridiculous. We have a lot of artists in the team. I don’t know….”
What is your fave Dutch team ever. You can pick players from any era and you have to play yourself.
“Van der Sar in goal. I think he was the greatest and I’ve seen him work up close of course. I always like Numan as left back. Frank de Boer and Frank Rijkaard as center halfs and in my team we need a very strong right back so Berry van Aerle. The best left foot in midfield is Willem van Hanegem. Wesley will play centrally and I will take the right side of midfield. Sjakie Swart is my right winger, Marco van Basten centrally upfront and Johan Cruyff can play wherever he wants.”
Thanks to Ramon van der Vaart ( here with son Fernando playing for Lucky Ajax):
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