Rafael van der Vaart congratulated Spain via Twitter on reaching the eighth finals at the European Championship. The former the Dutch international has been under heavy fire in Spain in recent days because of strong criticism of Luis Enrique’s team. “It seems that my words have helped as motivation,” the former international responded with a wink on social media on Wednesday evening to Spain’s 0-5 victory over Slovakia. “It was a good game tonight. Congratulations on reaching the knockout stage.”
Spain started the European Championship with a goalless draw against Sweden, followed by a 1-1 draw against Poland. After the second draw in a row, Spain was one of the possible opponents of the the Dutch in the eighth finals. “Let’s hope so. Whistling on, really. I really think Spain is a horror, Jesus. . . There’s actually nothing in it,” the former football player of Real Madrid, among others, analyzed at the NOS.
Looks like my words worked as motivation for @SeFutbol ?? Good game tonight, congrats on reaching the knockouts ??
— Rafael van der Vaart (@rafvdvaart) June 23, 2021
Van der Vaart’s critical words were widely reported in the Spanish media. Spanish international Koke, among others, reacted fiercely: “He just wants his moment of glory,” the Atlético Madrid midfielder said on the radio show El Partidazo de COPE. “I once saw him play in a World Cup final. We have a picture of that here at our training center. That Andrés Iniesta scores against the Netherlands, with Van der Vaart next to him. We will not take that photo into the locker room, but we will certainly keep his statements in mind.”
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Sergio Busquets couldn’t resist responding either. “Based on previous matches, I can now say anything to bring him down, but I will not do that,” said the Barcelona midfielder, who won the World Cup final against the Netherlands in 2010 with Spain. “He’s wrong with his statements, it’s shit that he did that,” Pablo Sarabia told Spanish media. “But the only memory I have of him is from the 2010 World Cup and he doesn’t come out very well. Because we won the final.”
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