Hamburg captain Rafael van der Vaart, the former darling of Dutch football, is in the eye of a storm. By the end of Saturday, he could see the club he has represented for six seasons relegated to Germany’s second tier for the first time in Bundesliga history.
Banned ...
By losing last weekend to Stuttgart — one of the teams in the drop zone — Hamburg missed a chance to control their fate in a relegation dogfight that sees six clubs still under threat of going down — two drop automatically and the 16th-placed team plays off next week against the third-best finisher from Bundesliga II.
Van der Vaart picked up a late yellow card in the 2-1 loss, meaning he will be suspended for Saturday’s last round of fixtures in which Hamburg must beat Schalke to retain a chance of surviving.
... and blamed
One German pundit, former Hamburg player Stefan Schnoor, said he thought the Dutch midfielder had “intended” to be booked last weekend, to spare himself participating in what could become a dark, historic date for the club. Van der Vaart will leave Hamburg next month and so may have played his final fixture for them.
A star amid strugglers
Van de Vaart, 32, has never been in a team that was relegated. “Survival would be a bigger thing for me than any title,” he said. He won two Dutch leagues with Ajax before he turned 22 and joined Real Madrid when they were Spanish champions in 2008 although, in two seasons there, he did not win a major prize.
Unfulfilled potential
At the beginning of his career he was rated one of the great creative talents in the world. His choice to leave Ajax for Hamburg in 2005 puzzled some, but he seemed to have made the leap to superstardom by signing for Madrid. He was overshadowed there and went to Tottenham, where he spent two years, before returning to Hamburg.
Amsterdam, Andalucia, Italy or Turkey
Van der Vaart’s experience and passing ability are still sought-after assets and, out of contract, he can consider several offers this summer, including possibly from Ajax and from mid-table Serie A teams and clubs in Turkey. He has previously spoken of an interest in playing in south-west Spain, where he has family connections.
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