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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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Origin
Dan Brown
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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more from Janine di Giovanni
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
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Manchester United 2
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How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
