0328.html

New knee surgery for Rafaël van der Vaart

28 March: Bad luck for Ajax and in particular for Rafaël van der Vaart. The 19 year-old midfielder and Ajax topscorer will undergo surgery again on Tuesday, in Amsterdam. After that, he will be sidelined for at least four more weeks.

Rafaël van der Vaart twisted his knee in the Eredivisie home game against RKC Waalwijk on 10 February. He underwent surgery at Amsterdam's V.U. Hospital three days later. A few torn pieces of the inner cartilage of his right knee were removed. He needed an estimated month to recover.

The past few weeks showed that Van der Vaart's recovery went slower than expected. Doctors decided today that new surgery is required to remove more fragments of the cartilage. This time, expectations are that Van der Vaart will be sidelined for approximately four more weeks.

This means the last league game of the season, at NEC on 05 May, and possibly the Amstel Cup final (12 May) are the only remaining matches in which Van der Vaart may be playing. (MP)

(Source: Ajax.nl and NOS TeleTekst)