Van der Vaart laughs but, in truth, he means it. He has that iron Dutch trait of, well, belief, and interestingly talks about the “fight” he and the likes of Wesley Sneijder – his great rival and even greater friend – and Robin van Persie have had to show. “We have a country of 16 million, a small country, and it’s normal for us to have great players. We all fight for our position. In England when you are aged 21 or 22 you are called a ‘talent’. I am 27 and I have almost 90 caps. When I was 21 I had 30 caps. My first game in the first-team I was 17.”