Rafael van der Vaart has announced his retirement from football with immediate effect.
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The 35-year-old signed for Esbjerg fB in the summer but has had a limited role due to an injury with the Danish side and has now confirmed to De Telegraaf that he will retire.
He told the newspaper, “”I just have to stop now, I’m not here to rehabilitate, but to play football.
“I would have wanted to become a football grandpa, but that is not the case. I can only be grateful for all the years I was allowed to play football, all those players, staff, fans of the Arena, the Volksparkstadion, White Hart Lane. to the Bernabeu, I just have warm feelings about it, it was a great time. ”
Van der Vaart started his illustrious career with Ajax before spells with Hamburg, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Betis. Recently he has been with FC Midtjylland to be close to his girlfriend Estavana Polman who plays Handball in Denmark. However, he barely featured for Midtjylland before joining Esbjerg in the summer.
Van der Vaart also earned 109 caps for the Netherlands.
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