Position: Midfielder
Born: 11.02.83
Club: Hamburg

Having been groomed in the legendary Ajax academy - he joined the Dutch giants aged 10 - Rafael van der Vaart made his name in the 2000/2001 season when he burst onto the scene by scoring seven times.

Another impressive season the following year saw the 21-year-old earn his first full cap for Holland and score 14 goals in 20 domestic games.

Injury finished his season but in 2002/2003 the playmaker bounced back and continued his outstanding goalscoring record by finding the net 18 times in just 21 matches.

Made club captain in 2004, van der Vaart was as impressive as ever, leading Ajax to the Eredivisie title.

As you would expect with a homegrown Ajax player, van der Vaart is technically excellent, able to use both feet and his vision regularly unlocks the tightest of defences.

His favoured position is just behind two strikers and Dutch journalists have even likened him to Zinedine Zidane.

Van der Vaart made a surprise move to Hamburg in 2005, where he returned to his inspirational best and quickly established himself as one of the stars of the Bundesliga.

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