Koke has hit back at Rafael van der Vaart after the Dutchman’s derogatory comments about the Spanish national team.
It’s safe to say that Spain haven’t quite been able to light the Euros on fire as of yet. Between their 0-0 draw with Sweden and a disappointing 1-1 result against Poland, the 2008 and 2012 winners are on track for a difficult road ahead in their pursuit of the crown.
Koke lets loose
Many have been critical of their approach to their first two games and that includes Rafael van der Vaart, the former Netherlands star, who had the following to say on their style of play.
“Spain are horrible, all they do is pass it from one side to the other,” he said to Dutch channel NOS. (translation via Marca)
In response, Spain midfielder Koke picked out a particularly painful memory from van der Vaart’s time at the 2010 World Cup.
“Van der Vaart wants his moment of glory and he’s having it,” Koke said on El Partidazo de COPE.
“I saw him in the World Cup final, and here at Las Rozas we have a photo of [Andres] Iniesta’s goal against the Netherlands with [Van der Vaart] next to him. You have to respect him.”
“We’re going to keep those words to motivate us a bit. We’re not going to hang them up in the dressing room, but we’re going to keep them in our memory if we play them,” he said.
VDV, of course, was the man marking Andres Iniesta in the final when he scored the crucial winning goal back in 2010.
Spain will be hoping Koke’s promise of using the criticism as motivation comes to fruition when they face Slovakia, who sit above them by one point in Group E, later on today.
Featured image credit: Getty
