Van der Vaart says Brazil and Spain favourites

January 12, 2010

Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart has named the countries he expects to be in contention for this year’s World Cup honours. The Real Madrid midfielder didn’t mention his homeland the Netherlands among the favourites.

“Spain is one of the favourites along with Argentina and Brazil,” said Van der Vaart at a press conference.

“Spain is a very good team but the World Cup is different. At Euro 2008 they were lucky because the Netherlands had a bad day against Russia.”

The 26-year-old midfielder returned to Real’s starting lineup recently, partly because of the injured Kaka’s absence. The Brazilian midfielder is on the verge of a return for Los Merengues but Van der Vaart doesn’t fear his comeback.

“I can also play with Kaka, not a problem, that is a decision of the coach.

“I have the skill and quality to play for Real Madrid.”

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