Report: Real Madrid Signs Van Der Vaart

Spain newspaper El Marca is reporting that Real Madrid have come to an agreement with 25-year-old Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart.

The Dutch midfielder would join fellow countrymen Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, and Ruud van Nistelrooy in the attacking half for the defending La Liga champions.

After being linked to Tottenham earlier this summer, van der Vaart had reportedly said he would rather stay with Hamburg than leave for a club at the same level. But he did hint that he would be open to a move to one of the major clubs in England, Spain, or Italy.

Over the last two summers Madrid has signed four dutch players—Robben, Sneijder, and Royston Drenthe joined the club last season—and will now sport five on their roster.

After watching this year’s European Championship, it looks like Madrid hope to replicate some of the attacking prowess that the Oranje showed in Austria/ Switzerland.

When my friend sent me a post from the German newspaper Kicker announcing the trade this morning, the only word of the article I understood was “Madrid.”

Both Kicker and El Marca are reporting that a deal is done with van der Vaart and a transfer is expected to be completed with over the next few days in the neighborhood of €20 million.

Where will van der vaart fit in with Madrid? The Spanish giants seem to have an abundance of attacking midfielders with Robben, Sneijder, Robinho, Baptista, and Guti.

If recent reports are correct, Robinho could be on his way to Chelsea which would explain Madrid’s thinking when bringing in van der Vaart.

Another big issue this raises is Los Blancos’ interest in Cristiano Ronaldo. Earlier this summer the transfer looked inevitable but with talks slowing down lately and this deal, it looks less and less likely that Ronaldo will join Madrid.

With this deal all but finished, here is a look at what Real’s starting lineup could look like as they attempt to defend their La Liga title:

GK: Iker Casillas.

DEF: Fabio Cannavaro, Sergio Ramos, Gabriel Heinze, Pepe.

MID: Fernando Gago, Sneijder, Robber, van der Vaart.

ATT: van Nistelrooy and Raul.

This is an incredibly potent team that can score goals and will not give up many. They also leave Bernd Schuster a lot of options whether he wants to play a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1, he has the players.

What do you think about this transfer and what it will do for Madrid this next season and what it means for Ronaldo’s future with Man U.

U.S. Soccer: Not Lacking Athletes, Just Success

Scratching and clawing at the international soccer elite, the U.S. national soccer team just can’t seem to break on through to that other side.

Even though Jim Morrison of Doors and Wayne’s World 2 fame most likely was not predicting the course of soccer in America over the 30-plus years since his death, the guy couldn’t be more right.

After a recent scoreless draught against Argentina, Spain, and England –– three of the world’s soccer elites –– which included a scoreless draw against Leo Messi and the Argentinians, you’d think that Morrison was right, and I’d agree (in spite of the fact that I don’t like The Doors).

Yet, whatever the case may be, the U.S. side isn’t eligible for the “Not Enough Athletes” excuse, which is reserved for mid- to low-major college basketball teams taking on, say, North Carolina.

To say that most of America’s top athletes don’t play soccer is an acceptable contention. That would be like saying that more people go out for MTV’s Real World than Road Rules nowadays because, seriously, when have we last seen a new Road Rules that wasn’t on at 3 a.m.

To say that America’s top athletes don’t play soccer and therefore hinder the sport’s levels of success and growth, though, is just wrong and missing the point.

For my money –– and I don’t put it out there unless I’m sure (except, um, at the track) –– soccer or football, depending upon where you are, has the best pound-for-pound athletes in the world.

As much as you would like to knock soccer, you cannot fight the fact that soccer players have to play at a run, without timeouts, for 90 minutes or more. For the best players this means running a 10k or more. I’m sorry, but I doubt that Kobe Bryant or Lebron James could keep up into extra-time –– Leo Messi (photo), Cristiano Ronaldo or Michael Ballack could run circles around either of them.

Add supreme eye-foot coordination (odd, yes), body control and touch to the sheer endurance from above and you have a superior athlete, looking at any soccer player could tell you that. There is no excess muscle or weight on a soccer player, they simply couldn’t get around the pitch with it.

In terms of mental toughness, soccer athletes are not the most impressive. This honor must go to golf, the ultimate head game. Tiger Woods’ recent U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines is proof enough. Woods went out with not just a bum knee but a knee that was barely serviceable and won the most grueling tournament in the sport. The mental toughness of golfers is beyond doubt.

To speculate what big-time athletes in other sports would make great soccer players is a crap shoot, largely because while the other major sports are in the trend of having BIG players, soccer is still a game where smaller athletes flourish.

(See: Messi, Robinho, Rafael van der Vaart, Cesc Fabregas and Franck Ribery –– all under six feet.)

The best American athletes are, generally, just too big for soccer. To wonder what success a team of Kobe, Reggie Bush, David Eckstein, and Tiger Woods would make is an impossible, pointless task, comparable to predicting the career success of those very same Real World cast members.

What it comes down to, and what you can actually make a case for is that U.S. soccer has not experienced enough success to create the popularity necessary to lead more athletes to the sport.

The athlete base is there: The U.S. can draw from more talent than can France, England and Germany combined. The draw is the thing that isn’t.

The cultural dynamic will begin to change the day after the U.S. wins the World Cup –– until then, it’s just paddling upstream.