Rafa's Magical Derby Moments
Tottenham Hotspur Publications|Spurs v Arsenal

Rafa van der Vaart might only have featured in three north London derbies during his time in N17, but he certainly made the most of his trio of appearances against the Gunners. His record of four goals, two wins and a draw is impressive, but it was his enthusiasm and determination to succeed that made him such a fans favourite at the Lane. We caught up with the Dutch star ahead of today’s big game.

Rafa's Magical Derby Moments

What is it about derbies and especially our derby against Arsenal that brought the best out of you? You always seemed inspired when you played the Gunners! 

Rafa: I have always liked playing in derbies and in classico matches. Even as a young kid in the youth academy at Ajax, when we were playing Feyenoord from Rotterdam, I could hardly get any sleep the day before the match. It’s just excitement. You are defending your club in a sporting battle, it’s about honour first and the opportunity to make your supporters proud.

At Ajax and Real Madrid, it was the classicos against Feyenoord and Barcelona, and the derbies against Atletico. At Hamburg SV I played the derby against Werder Bremen and at Spurs, there were the fantastic north London derbies against Arsenal. You don’t have to give me a lecture about the history of certain matches. As a player I just feel it, you walk on the pitch, you hear the cheering of the fans, it all has that different intensity and you know straight away – it’s game on. And on a match-day against Arsenal it is definitely game on!

You also seemed to understand straight away what it meant to the fans – where does that come from, your own love of football? 

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