Rafael Van der Vaart's comments about the Spain national team have been one of the key talking points in Spanish football over the past week.
Following the draw against Poland, he lamented the way that the side had played in their first two games of Euro 2020.
"Spain are horrible, all they do is pass [the ball] from one side to another," Van der Vaart told NOS. "They don't even have a player who knows how to give a final pass."
These comments provoked a furious reaction from the Spain camp, in particular from Spain captain Sergio Busquets.
"He's left himself out to dry," Busquets told Mediaset. "I could discredit him even more as a person, for various clashes I had with him in his career that everyone remembers, but I'm not going to do it
Following Spain's resounding 5-0 victory over Slovakia, Van der Vaart sought to reconcile the situation on Twitter.
"Looks like my words worked as motivation for Spain," Van der Vaart tweeted. "Good game tonight, congrats on reaching the knockouts."
nuubclosyz
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Madridistas after supporting Van der Vaart 🤣🤣🤣
shivam1810
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Van der Vaart will forever be remembered by this pic, he is just a small part of spain's history.
pulkit10
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van der faart after Spain's match
varunnavani
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Now what does he have to say?🤣
Yusufhassan442
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spain after hearing this