A Quote by Rafael van der Vaart

When I was young, the best moment came when I was 10 and I got invited to the academy. I remember getting all this Ajax training gear and suddenly I was able to call myself an Ajax player.

Rafael van der Vaart

Quote Topics

Able Academy Ajax Best Best Mom Call Came Gear Getting Got Invited Moment Myself Player Remember Suddenly Training Young

Quote Author

Rafael van der Vaart
Dutch - Athlete
Born: February 11, 1983

Ajax always bring through young players from their academy - we can't pay €20m for a player, so we make sure we develop those players and give them the opportunity to play.

Edwin van der Sar

Ajax is the best academy in the world.

Jan Vertonghen

I've always been a big Ajax fan. It is not very strange - my whole family supports Ajax.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

My first dream as a young boy was to be a gymnast and my first memory of football is of watching Ajax win the European Cup in 1971. It was a time when a great philosophy was being developed at Ajax, making rounded players who were there as a complete team rather than as 11 individuals.

Marco van Basten

I just grew up in Ajax with all the players from Ajax. We only had two or three foreigners, so everyone knew each other and knew the system.

Edgar Davids

At Adaptive Path, we've been doing our own work with Ajax over the last several months, and we're realizing we've only scratched the surface of the rich interaction and responsiveness that Ajax applications can provide.

Jesse James Garrett

I would like Ajax to be people's favourite second team. Like in Spain, if you are a Real Madrid fan, then you can't be a Barcelona supporter. It's the same in Italy. But you can be an Ajax fan.

Edwin van der Sar

In Holland, I have got the buzz back playing as a centre-forward, which is where I perform best. Ajax always appealed to me from when I was young and they gave me a chance to play in the Champions League too.

Bojan Krkic

I just remember playing in my school and then getting invited to go along to train with a development squad at Reading. My first training session, the manager said, 'You have to come and play with the academy girls,' so that would probably be my first footballing memory.

Fran Kirby

I came from Ajax where you play 4-3-3 and as a winger they didn't want you to defend.

Ryan Babel

Leo [Messi] is the best player of all time - better than Pele, Maradona or Cruyff. There have been some great teams in history - Pele's Brazil, Cruyff's Ajax, Sacchi's Milan - but in the past 20 years this Barcelona team is the best.