Van der Vaart hails BVB star: “By far the best” | OneFootball

After two years, a BVB star is back in his national team's shirt and makes an immediate impression. Rafael van der Vaart in particular is full of praise for the midfielder.

Joey Veerman has made an impressive return to the Dutch national team. In the 2-1 Nations League win over Serbia, Borussia Dortmund’s new signing was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes and impressed above all as the midfield’s tempo-setter. Former international Rafael van der Vaart was especially enthusiastic afterward.

Veerman had been called up for the Netherlands again for the first time in around two years. His previous last appearance had come at Euro 2024. Back then, he was substituted after just 30 minutes in the 3-2 defeat to Austria and was not considered again by Ronald Koeman afterward. Under new head coach Xavi Hernandez, the 27-year-old is now getting a new chance.

Against Serbia, Veerman took that chance in impressive fashion. The midfielder recorded 135 touches and completed 105 of his 117 passes. According to Opta, no Dutch midfielder had registered that many touches in an international match since Wesley Sneijder in 2014. He also produced five key passes and won six duels.

Van der Vaart hails BVB new signing Veerman

Speaking to NOS, van der Vaart particularly highlighted Veerman’s quality on the ball: “When it comes to passing, he is by far the best.” Although the Dortmund player can occasionally look slow in his movement, the former Bundesliga professional believes his footballing ability more than makes up for it.

Photo: IMAGO

Van der Vaart was even clearer in his assessment of Veerman’s playmaking: “Every ball is perfect and played at the right speed. Everyone knows they can give the ball to Veerman.” The 43-year-old therefore believes the BVB player will feature regularly under Xavi in the future.

TV pundit Theo Janssen also praised the 18-cap international and drew a prominent comparison. “Just as a side note: Sergio Busquets isn’t any faster. But he always gets the ball to the right man.” Veerman moved from PSV Eindhoven to Dortmund in the summer for 22 million euros. After his successful start at BVB, he has now also made a clear statement in the Oranje shirt.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.