体坛英语新闻：Former Dutch international Van der Vaart ends career

THE HAGUE, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Former Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart has ended his career as professional footballer, he told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf on Monday.

The reason for this decision is a recent injury that he sustained during a training with his Danish club Esbjerg fB. Van der Vaart had already decided that this season would be his last, but says this latest series of injuries has spurred him to throw in the towel early.

"I just have to stop now," he told De Telegraaf. "I am not here to recover from injuries, but to play football. I will lose the joy to play this way and that should not be way to finish."

Van der Vaart started his career at Ajax and later played for Hamburger SV, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, again HSV and Real Betis. FC Midtjylland and Esbjerg fB in Denmark were his last clubs. With Ajax, the left-footed midfielder won two championships (2002, 2004), one Dutch Cup (2002) and one Super Cup (2002). He also captured the Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid in 2008.

Under coach Louis van Gaal Van der Vaart, debuted in the Dutch national team at the age of 18, collecting 109 caps in total. With the Dutch national team he played three European Championships (2004, 2008 and 2012) and two World Championships (2006 and 2010), coming on as a substitute in the 2010 World Cup final against Spain.

"I won prizes and played for titles, both with my clubs, the Dutch national team and individually," he continued in De Telegraaf. "In all those years I have been able to play football with and against so many great players in the most beautiful stadiums. I had never dared to dream of that as a young boy before."