For us Tottenham fans, it was a thing of beauty.Not once, but twice Dutch hero Rafael van der Vaart, nutmegged Jack Wilshere during a barnstorming north London derby in April 2011.
Rafa spent two years at Spurs and was a huge hit with fans and he has even revealed leaving White Hart Lane was a big mistake.In 63 Premier League games between 2010 and 2012 he scored 24 times, with the game against Arsenal being a particular highlight of his short stint at Spurs.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, Van der Vaart was asked if Wilshere said anything after the humiliation. “I don’t remember him saying anything to me,” he said. “All I remember is what I said to him afterwards: ‘Close your legs next time!’”
Rafa remembers the game fondly for other reasons, too. “I had one of my best games that night. We went 1-0 down, I scored the equaliser, but then we let in two before pulling it back to 3-3, with me scoring another goal.
He added: “Luka Modric missed a big chance to make it 4-3 towards the end, which was a pity because we needed to win. I don’t think the supporters had often experienced a derby quite as good as that one – it was an incredible match.”
In the interview he also revealed joining Spurs was the best thing to ever happen to him in football, explaining he felt at home from the moment he arrived, however, following the arrival of Gylfi Sigurdsson in 2012, manager Andre Villas-Boas gave the green light for his sale to Hamburg and the 35-year-old is now turning out for Danish side Midtjylland.
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