‘Don’t waste your time’… Van der Vaart responds to Barcelona prodigy’s recent public gesture | OneFootball

At FC Barcelona, there never seems to be a day without drama or new matters to tend to. For the Catalan club, criticism of the eyes of the public are nothing new or out of the ordinary. However, certain matters impact individuals at Barcelona more so than the collective group.

The most recent of such developments seem to involve 17-year-old Spanish winger Lamine Yamal. Despite his young age, it seems clear enough that the Barcelona prodigy is already attracting the eyes of both appreciating fans and tough critics as well.

One of the most recent incidents that clearly highlight this observation was one that involved former Real Madrid player Rafael van der Vaart. Now aged 42, the former Dutch international recently got into a spat of sorts with the 17-year-old winger.

This originated from his criticism of the youngster’s habits and apparent lack of effort as per the Dutchman in light of the game between Spain and the Netherlands following the first leg of their two-legged UEFA Nations League tie:

“It seemed like Yamal didn’t enjoy facing Jorrel Hato. I notice little things like that — and some of it bothered me. His shorts slightly down, not pushing himself, some half-hearted gestures… That’s when I think: you’re so young, you should be grateful for every minute you play for Spain. No matter how talented you are, at that age, you have to prove it every minute and every match. That said, Hato had him in his pocket.”

These comments seemed to find their way to Yamal, who showed up with much more intensity and drive in the second leg. Ultimately, with a crucial and decisive goal in extra-time and then with a win in the penalty shoot-out, both Yamal and Spain make their way to the semi-final stage of the competition.

However, Yamal made sure not to forget about the former Dutch player’s comments and the Barcelona star hit back on social media as he uploaded a post on Instagram captioned:

“Pants down, one goal, missed penalty, and into the semifinals.”

With this response, it was clear that Yamal was playing with something to prove and he managed that quite well. However, it seems that the last of this ongoing back-and-forth is yet to come about. As per MARCA, van der Vaart has now recently responded to Yamal’s caption as well:

“My advice to Lamine Yamal? Don’t waste your time worrying about what an overweight ex-player says… At 17, with all the praise, you really start thinking the world revolves around you. It’s happened to all of us — but it’s not like that. Football is fun, but it’s not the most important thing. If you think you’re a God, you become unbearable.”

Interestingly, Yamal never seems to shy away from confrontation or trying to prove a point when people publicly underestimate him. It happened before with French midfielder Adrien Rabiot during the 2024 European Championship, and the Barcelona wonderkid made sure to leave a lasting impression then.

It remains to be seen if the Barcelona forward has anything else to add onto this later, but for now the focus shifts back to club football. Up next for Barça is a crucial game against CA Osasuna in La Liga, and the Catalan giants will definitely need Yamal’s help to get a positive result.