He was a great player—maybe not world-class, but when someone makes it to Real Madrid, that means they were good. However, it was as a commentator that Rafael van der Vaart truly started stirring controversy. He isn’t afraid to say exactly what he thinks. And what he thinks isn’t always flattering.But sometimes, that kind of attitude backfires on him. Like last night, when Lamine Yamal got his chance to respond to Van der Vaart’s criticism after the first clash between Spain and the Netherlands.UNL: Can we watch this games forever!?Back then, Spain barely salvaged a draw in stoppage time thanks to Mikel Merino. Yamal himself didn’t have the best night, which led Van der Vaart to call him out.”Yamal didn’t have a good time against Jorrel Hato. There are things I’ve noticed, things that bother me a little. For example, his slightly lowered shorts, his reluctance to give his absolute maximum effort, some careless gestures,” Van der Vaart said on Dutch NOS television. And he didn’t stop there”I thought: if you’re that young, you should be happy for every minute you get to play for Spain. No matter how good you are, at that age, you have to prove yourself every minute of every game. And Hato simply put him in his pocket,” he concluded.🗣️ Van der Vaart: “I noticed some things about Lamine Yamal that started to annoy me. His shorts were too low, he didn’t try too hard, he had some superficial gestures… If you’re so young, you should be happy for every minute you play for Spain. You have to show it.’ pic.twitter.com/MaB3ln2B0T— The Touchline | Football Coverage (@TouchlineX) March 23, 2025 Clearly, his words struck a nerve with Yamal, who didn’t hold back after the rematch, where Spain advanced to the Nations League semifinals on penalties. And it was Yamal himself who scored the goal to make it 3-2—celebrating by pulling his shorts down.”Shorts lowered, one goal, missed penalty, and we’re in the semifinals. Hahaha, let’s go Spain!” Yamal wrote.Rafael van der Vaart criticized Lamine Yamal’s attitude on the field, pointing out that he “plays with his shorts down”……and he celebrated like this after scoring against his country. pic.twitter.com/0BKClP6ouP— The Screenshot Lad (@thescreenlad) March 24, 2025 At least when it comes to effort in the national team jersey, there’s nothing to criticize him for—not even the lowered shorts.##NAJAVA_MECA_8799842##
