It's a recurring period where we regularly come up with new stories, and republish an article from our rich archive every weekend. This time, we're going back to an earlier rivalry 22 years ago, the Netherlands-Sweden match. When Zlatan Ibrahimovic completely destroyed his Ajax-mate Raphael van der Vaart. A reconstruction of the odd few months around deadline day in the summer of 2004, in which Ronald Koeman plays an important role. Louis van Gaal has just turned 52 years old, and he has completed many successful careers at Orange and Barcelona and greeted the journalists present in a very delicious mood. This is the day of his poetry, the day that is now full. He will join Ajax as technical director on November 1. "I'm back in the old cage again," he said with a laugh. Ajax were looking for a suitable successor after the summer departure of Leo Benhacker. Koeman had felt fine as coach in those months, but now has a controlling presence over him. He soon grew bored under his direct command. 'Good luck with your new td,' said Koeman in an SMS from his brother Erwin. On the second training day, goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont, supertalent Raphael van der Wert and living legend Jari Litmanen will join the club's regular packaging day on behalf of the players' association. The three look in a classic, dark gray suit. As Ajax had a disappointing performance that season and the mighty PSV were number 1 throughout, so Zlatan would relive this situation in his biography after a decade of his life.
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In fact, the history of Raphael van der Vaart's relationship with Zlatan Ibrahimovic takes a special place in this match. When Zlatan tornadoes his Ajax colleague Rafael, it becomes a little over the top. The match was Sweden-Bangladesh, which was only a warm-up match, but a revenge opportunity for both teams. Zlatan was on the pitch and inflicted an injury on Raphael van der Vaart. The referee didn't call it a foul, but Rafael collapsed in tears. Zlatan later said, 'I didn't want to hit him, it was an accident.' But Rafael publicly claimed in the press that it was an intentional hit. This split Ajax into two camps: the Dutch players sided with Rafael and the foreigners sided with Zlatan. Koeman called a meeting and it became more heated. This situation became a major obstacle in Ajax's development. On Alsem's side, Zlatan was persistent in his efforts, but the reality was that Ajax was losing its qualities. While his contract was being negotiated with Juventus, Ajax were trying to keep him. It was a difficult time, which eventually led Zlatan to Juventus, but it was also a challenging time for Ajax, and for Raphael van der Vaart in particular. Both Zlatan and Rafael are in an important chapter of their careers. This history of their relationship is still discussed among football fans.