Rafael Van Der Vaart Mocks Harry Maguire While Criticising German Football Team

Rafael Van Der Vaart Mocks Harry Maguire While Criticising German Football Team

Byron Pillay
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:18 PM
In this article:
FIFA World Cup logo
FIFA World Cup
International
Harry Maguire logo
H.Maguire
Manchester United logoDEngland logo
  • Harry Maguire's performances for Manchester United this season have been widely criticised
  • Germany were eliminated from the World Cup in the group stages despite beating Costa Rica
  • Rafael van der Vaart rated Niklas Sule's defence so low that he used Maguire as an example

Rafael van der Vaart is unhappy with Germany's World Cup performance.

The former Netherlands midfielder criticised the team's defending, hilariously comparing it to that of England defender Harry Maguire.

FIFA World Cup, Qatar, Sport, World, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Midfielder, Dutch, Netherlands, Harry Maguire, Criticising, German Football Team, Niklas Sule
Former Dutch international Rafael Van Der Vaart took a cheap shot at Harry Maguire and his performances while talking about Germany's World Cup trip-up. Image: ANP Sport/ Robert Michael.
Source: Getty Images

Football 365 noted that Van der Vaart was providing commentary on Dutch television when he took a shot at both Niklas Sule and Maguire.

“Germany have a problem in defence. Niklas Sule is not world-class. He is the German Harry Maguire,” the former Dutch star said.

Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

Ironically, Maguire has been impressive for England during the tournament. The Manchester United defender has been criticised for his performances for his club, but is a different player with the Three Lions shirt on.

Van der Vaart wasn't the only person critical of Germany's showing at the tournament.

Former players and the media lambasted the team, and even coach Hansi Flick admitted that it was their own fault they were eliminated in the group stages, Daily Mail reported.

However, Flick said despite the many reasons for Germany's early elimination from the Mundial, he would not seek excuses.

"We did not have much time to train, but it is not down to that. We fulfilled our last duty and went off the pitch with a victory, but the result could have been better,” he said after the game against Costa Rica.

Die Mannschaft beat Costa Rica 4-2, but were still dumped out of the tournament after Japan beat Spain 2-1.

VAR decision kicked Germany out

The football world is still in shock, after Germany exited the World Cup in the group stage for the second consecutive tournament.

After a sluggish start to the campaign, Die Mannschaft finally found their scoring boots against Costa Rica, Sports Brief earlier reported.

They still needed Spain to do them a favour by beating or holding Japan to draw, a result that was hard to come by due to a controversial Video Assistant Referee review.

Authors
Byron Pillay photo
Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
Tags
World