var playerInfo={"71450CE0B6A0CA84C96E1AF31F3CA129":"1983-2-11","E7D2F501BA5F9F82D5E1659EC36049E1":"AFC Ajax supporters caught their first glimpse of a superstar-in-the-making when the left-sided playmaker Rafael van der Vaart took his first-team bow in the 1-1 draw at FC Den Bosch in April 2000. And nothing has happened since to persuade them otherwise. <BR><BR>National team<BR><BR>Having appeared for the Netherlands at the FIFA World Youth Cup in Argentina in the summer of 2000, he stepped up a level to make his full international debut against Andorra in October 2001 and is now a regular in the national set-up. <BR><BR>UEFA EURO 2004? qualifying <BR><BR>Van der Vaart left it late to make his mark on the Dutch campaign, scoring in the final three qualifiers against Austria, the Czech Republic and Moldova. The gifted forward missed just one match en route to Portugal, the away victory in Vienna. <BR><BR>Club<BR><BR>Van der Vaart was born in Heemskerk in 1983 and joined Ajax at the age of ten. Scored seven goals in 27 first-team appearances in his first full season, 2000\/01, after replacing the veteran Richard Witschge. The next year his ratio was even better: 14 in 20, as Ajax won the Eredivisie and Dutch Cup. The downside to his blossoming career came when he sustained a serious knee injury against RKC Waalwijk requiring surgery in February 2002. <BR><BR>2002\/03: Although the Eredivisie&#39;s young player of the year returned to good effect in the Dutch Super Cup game against PSV Eindhoven in August 2002, scoring twice in a 3-1 victory, Van der Vaart had two more injuries in a season which saw him net 18 goals in 21 games. In February he signed a new, improved deal. <BR><BR>Did you know?<BR><BR>He told uefa.com of comparisons with Johan Cruyff: &quot;It&#39;s nice but Cruyff was really fantastic and I am still young.&quot; <BR><BR>","4EFF01CD2A1AA847F29F381C102FA3CF":"H\u00e0 Lan","D21B7B52C3154356":"1","EB70E23140D61D3403104435C4316058":"10","68B71F6A7FE5F18E":"74kg","32E266777F4D5C3EBFB0DB492A500BF5":"Midtjylland","156AB99B76267623A362893B4EB80A89":"","7850BFBCDDAACDE9":"Rafael van der Vaart","8C25D93985F42C1E":"Rafael van der Vaart","55115EEDFFE75225FD0E1787F70FC7CB":"2018-8-4","6F2A70628678CF4280DBDAE365DB6938":"","826BE2C46637622708825252B0B77027":"Midtjylland,Real Betis,Hamburger,Tottenham Hotspur,Real Madrid,Ajax Amsterdam","56F049EE5D0B1EC9":"Esbjerg FB","2E0C5ADB6636D43E":"176cm","52D34B1F24A26AA271F2BD571AA0152C":"1","65809D335DC33AB4":"721","0DC344593C67F298":"9936","e_index":4};