Soccer
Rafael van der Vaart reveals the football legend he thought 'was an a**hole' when he played alongside him
Sign up for free to watch the Club World Cup draw
Rafael van der Vaart played with some of the game's biggest names during his playing career but has admitted he didn't always see eye-to-eye with everyone.
In a career that saw him play for Ajax, Real Madrid and in the Premier League with Spurs, he's played with some of the world's very best, yet, when he recalls his time in the Dutch captital there's a certain rivalry that springs to mind.
Speaking on The LineUp — a new show brought to you by BetMGM and talkSPORT, the former Dutch midfielder confessed that in those early Ajax days there was some huge tension between him and one Zlatan Ibrahimovic - and he had quite the opinion of the future Swedish superstar.
“I thought he was an a**hole! We had quite a lot of fights at Ajax and we just didn’t get along," Van der Vaart admitted.
“I thought he was very arrogant and I had a big ego too. We were both young but had to find a way to play together, which we managed.
“We had a national game against Sweden and he kicked me quite hard on the ankle. I was lying there, crying almost, and I looked at him, baring in mind he’s my teammate at Ajax, and he just walked off.“After the game, I went mad and told the press he did it on purpose. I sat in the dressing room and realised I’d overreacted and apologised to him over the phone and it was all okay. The next day in training, he absolutely went in on me, we had a big screaming match, and the whole team had to break it up. Some of the team chose him and some of them chose me.
“Two days later he left for Juventus. This was because he had to leave or I had to leave, neither of us could accept playing in the same team.”
