Name: Rafael van der Vaart
Born: Heemskerk, Netherlands
Nationality: Netherlands
Position: Attacking midfielder Left/Center
DOB: 11/2/1983
Current Club: Real Madrid FC
A product of the Ajax youth system, Rafael van der Vaart is no stranger to success. Leading a recovering Ajax team back to its glory days, van der Vaart has shown remarkable maturity for his age. He scored seven goals in 27 first-team appearances in his first full season, 2000/01, after replacing the veteran Richard Witschge. The next year he scored 14 in 20, as Ajax won the Eredivisie and Dutch Cup. With all his promise, van der Vaart was riddled with injuries and had to undergo surgery. But when fully fit, he can be compared to the best players Holland has ever produced. In February 2003, he signed a new deal with Ajax, and in the 2003/04 campaign, he's gotten the interest of other European clubs, including Manchester United and Juventus. In the 2004/05 season, Rafael van der Vaart was named Captain of the squad. During an international match against Sweden, van der Vaart was injured by fellow Ajax teammate, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which led to the Ajax side to disfunction and also led to Ibrahimovic's sudden sale to Juventus. Ajax, unable to find a replacement striker, gave manager Ronald Koeman no choice but to put van der Vaart into striker position, especially with, Ajax striker, Wesley Sonck's poor form. Continuing a poor season, and lack of leadership quality, Koeman had no choice but to strip van der Vaart from his captaincy and give it to Tomas Galasek instead. Ronald Koeman quit the team as head coach, and Danny Blind took over the helm as manager. Van der Vaart was injured for most of the games left under Blind, and announced taht he did not plan on staying with Ajax, that he would take his game outside the Netherlands. Rumours began with van der Vaart that he would be moving to SV Hamburg, Germany, but the player played that down after many weeks of speculation. It turned out that speculation came to reality, and van der Vaart joined the German club, and became an instant hit with the fans scoring vital goals in their Bundesliga campaign.
Honours
2002
Dutch League
Dutch Cup
Dutch Supercup
Dutch Talent of the Year
2004
Dutch League 
Real Madrid Club made an official announcement that tells Van der Vaart signs Real Madrid.
Here is the announcement:
Real Madrid C.F. and Hamburg SV have reached an agreement for the 5-season transfer of Dutch player Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart to the former club. The agreement is subject to the player’s medical examination and his signing of a federation contract.
Van der Vaart will be officially presented on Tuesday 5 August at 13:00 CET in the Presidential Balcony of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Sneijder gets a knee injury.Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder's left knee injury will rule him out for three months, a relief to the player and club who had feared a longer absence.
Hour-long tests at a Madrid hospital on Monday showed that Sneijder did not tear ligaments when he was challenged clumsily by Arsenal's Abou Diaby in a preseason friendly match at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
"I am very happy," Sneijder said.
Sneijder's reduced absence means he should be available to play in the latter games of the Champions League group phase, as Madrid aims for a record 10th European Cup title.
The 24-year-old former Ajax player has been preparing for his second season at Madrid, which kicks off with a Spanish Supercup first leg against Copa del Rey winner Valencia on Aug. 17. Madrid's league title defense begins with a trip to Deportivo La Coruna on Aug. 30 or 31
A weekend of brilliant football in London drew to a close on Sunday with a thriller. Two of the top teams in Europe head to head with the primary objective of fine tuning their game heading into their respective season openers. Hamburg clinched the second edition of the Emirates Cup with Arsenal's defeat over Real Madrid, who finished second ahead of the hosts and Juventus.
Match Report:
Arsenal: Almunia; Diaby (Ramsey, 73’), Sagna, Senderos, Gallas (Djourou, 88’); Nasri (Wilshere, 74’), Van Persie (Eboue, 64’), Denilson, Clichy, Adebayor (Bendtner, 74’) & Walcott (Vela, 64’).
Real Madrid: Dudek; Salgado, Heinze, Javi García, Torres; Diarra (De la Red, 78’), Guti, Callejón (Sneijder, 46’ (Parejo, 60’), Baptista (Robben, 46’); Robinho (Saviola, 60’) & Raúl (Van Nistelrooy, 46’).
Goals: 1-0, min. 48. Adebayor
Highlights:
MATCH REPORT:
Real Madrid: Dudek; Salgado (Callejón, 80’), Heinze, Javi García, Torres; Sneijder (Parejo, 66’), Guti (Baptista, 56’), Diarra, Robben (Robinho, 73’); Raúl (Higuaín, 56’) and Van Nistelrooy (Saviola, 56’).
HSV Hamburg: Rost; Atouba (Aogo, 60’), Mathijsen, De Jong, Kompany; Trochowski (Reinhardt,. 45’), Jarolim, Demel (Benjamín, 45’) y Pitroipia (Ben – Hatira), 68’); Guerrero (Torun, 71’) and Olic (Zidan, 45’).
Goals:
1-0, min. 25. Van Nistelrooy
1-1, min 53. Zidan
2-1, min. 84. Parejo
To read more go to Real Madrid Website
Highlights
Name: Rafael van der Vaart
