Rafael van der Vaart was midway through a tidy breakdown of a blown defensive assignment when he decided to editorialize on the ethnicity of the players involved.
The former Tottenham and Real Madrid midfielder — now a pundit for Dutch broadcaster NOS — was dissecting the Netherlands’ stoppage-time collapse against Japan, a match that ended in a frantic 2-2 draw after Daichi Kamada converted a deflected header in the 88th minute.
¡TREMENDO GOLAZO DE JAPÓN! ¡LO EMPATAN EN LO ÚLTIMO!
Daichi Kamada marca con un CABEZAZO en un tiro de esquina y empareja el encuentro ante Países Bajos.
¿El mejor partido del Mundial al momento? pic.twitter.com/QmZy2OMR6w
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 14, 2026
“They do all look alike, of course, perhaps he thought that,” Van der Vaart said, explaining away Micky Van de Ven’s mix-up.
🇳🇱🇯🇵 Rafael van der Vaart has faced criticism following controversial remarks about Japan after the Netherlands’ draw at the World Cup.
🗣️ Van der Vaart: “Micky van de Ven should have defended the Japanese corner better. The player who scored the header was completely unmarked.… pic.twitter.com/a3Sq9rJvZP
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) June 15, 2026
“That’s a joke, of course,” he added. “I’m scared to say anything at all.”
By Wednesday, with the clip circulating well beyond the Netherlands, Van der Vaart issued a statement insisting that the remark was made without malice.
According to The Athletic’s Tom Burrows, his intention was “never to insult, hurt, or discriminate against anyone,” that he opposes racism in any form, and that he holds “respect for people of every origin and background.” He added that he took the backlash seriously, understood his words could be read differently than intended, and wanted to be unambiguous that there was no racist or discriminatory intent behind what he said.
On the English-language broadcast of that same match, Fox’s Darren Fletcher was issuing his own apology to Japan’s players, for an entirely different reason. Fletcher spent the final minutes questioning whether the Japanese players were even tall enough to compete, telling viewers, “The Japanese players think they’re taller than they actually are, because they persist on crossing it straight onto the heads of the Dutch defenders.” He went a step further moments later, practically daring the soccer gods: “You watch, they’ll score from this one now that I have said that.” Japan did exactly that, off the very next corner.
Fletcher, to his credit, owned it instantly, telling the Fox audience he owed an apology “to every Japanese player down there” for doubting them.
“The Japanese players think they’re taller than they actually are, because they persist on crossing it straight onto the heads of the Dutch defenders.
“ASTONISHING! 2-2!”
“Can I just apologize to every Japanese player down there, because that’s why they were crossing it into the Dutch box…”
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing.bsky.social) June 14, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Van der Vaart will be back in the chair Saturday when the Netherlands play Sweden in Houston, presumably sticking to formations this time.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.