Marco van Basten

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Marco van Basten
Personal information
Full name	Marcel van Basten
Date of birth	October 31, 1964 (age 42)
Place of birth	Utrecht, Netherlands
Nickname	San Marco, The Swan Of Utrecht
Playing position	Manager (former Striker)
Club information
Current club	Netherlands
Youth clubs
1981-1982	Ajax Amsterdam
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1982-1987 1987-1993	Ajax Amsterdam A.C. Milan	133 (128) 147 (90)
National team
1983-1992	Netherlands	58 (24)
Teams managed
2003-2004 2004-	Ajax B Netherlands
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Marcel ("Marco") van Basten (October 31, 1964 in Oog in Al, Utrecht) is a Dutch football manager, currently in charge of the Dutch national team. Previously, he was a football player who played for Ajax Amsterdam and A.C. Milan in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is regarded as one of the finest strikers of all time and scored 276 goals in a career cut short by injury. Known for his strength on the ball, his tactical awareness and spectacular strikes and volleys, Van Basten was named European Footballer of the Year three times (1988, '89 and '92) and FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992. He was elected the twelfth-best footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the IFFHS. Van Basten was voted eighth in a poll organised by the French weekly magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon D'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century ^[1]

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Honors 3 Managing career 4 External links

[edit] Playing career

Marco van Basten was born on 31 October 1964 in Utrecht, where he started his football career at the age of seven. Van Basten's first club was a local team, UVV. After spending there ten years, he moved to another club from Utrecht, Elinkwijk, where he played very briefly, just before Ajax signed him. He played his first game for Ajax in April 1982, scoring at his debut in the 5-0 victory over NEC Nijmegen. In that game, he entered the game as a substitute for the only man he could not rival in terms of fame in Dutch football: Johan Cruijff.

Van Basten's growth seemed to be unstoppable in his next years playing for Ajax, as he became a prolific goalscorer and showcased a brilliant technique. During the 1982-83 season he had European top scorer, Wim Kieft, as his main rival for Ajax's striker position, which caused him to play only 20 games, scoring 9 goals. However, Kieft was sold to Serie A club Pisa the next season, and Ajax continued the mid-eighties with the teenage forward.

He became top scorer in the following four seasons (1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987), scoring 117 goals in 112 matches. A highlight of this run was the season 1985-86, when he made 37 goals in 26 matches (including six against Sparta and five against Heracles) in the Eredivisie, making him the winner of the European Golden Boot that year. In the 1986-87 season, Van Basten scored the winning goal in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final against FC Lokomotive Leipzig.

In 1987, Silvio Berlusconi brought Van Basten to Milan, with fellow countrymen Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard joining him in 1988. In his first season Milan won their first scudetto (league championship) in eight years, but Van Basten played only eleven games and was constantly troubled by an ankle injury. Despite this, Van Basten scored five goals in Euro 88: a hat-trick against England, the winning goal in the semi-final against West Germany, and a spectacular volley in the final against the Soviet Union, as the Dutch national team won the European Championship.

Helped by his form in international competition, Van Basten had an excellent season in 1988-89, winning European Footballer of the Year and scoring nineteen goals in Serie A as well as helping Milan demolish Steaua Bucharest by scoring twice to win the European Cup. In 1989-90 he was Capocannoniere (Serie A's leading goal scorer) and Milan defended their European Cup successfully against Benfica. The Dutch national side had a poor World Cup in 1990, finally going out to West Germany in the second round.

Domestically Milan's 1990-91 season was disappointing as Sampdoria won the scudetto. Van Basten fell out with Milan's manager Arrigo Sacchi and Berlusconi sacked Sacchi to placate him. Managed by Fabio Capello the following season, Milan did not lose a single game in the league and won the championship, van Basten scoring 25 goals and becoming Capocannoniere again. Internationally, Holland reached the semi-final of Euro 92 where they lost to Denmark in a penalty shootout, van Basten having his penalty saved by Peter Schmeichel.

Milan stretched their unbeaten run into the 1992-93 season, going 58 matches in total before they lost a game. Van Basten played exceptionally well in the early part of the season and was voted European Player of the Year for a third time before his troublesome ankle injury recurred in a game against Ancona. Van Basten underwent another series of operations and returned to Milan for the final few domestic games before they lost the Champions League final to Marseille. The final was Van Basten's final game for Milan; despite enormous effort, he was unable to recover from his injuries.

He did come back for Demetrio Albertini's testimonial match at San Siro however (December 2005), and scored a goal (from a header) before being substituted early in the first half.

On the 22nd of July 2006 he again returned for testimonial football to celebrate the 11-year Arsenal playing career of Dennis Bergkamp, in the first game at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. He played a fair part of the second half for the Ajax legends team, appearing as part of a double substitution that also introduced Johan Cruyff. While he did not get on the scoresheet, he dazzled with accurate backheels and superb control in front of goal.

[edit] Honors

Club

• Ajax Amsterdam:
  • UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1987.
  • Dutch Championship: 1982, 1983, 1985.
  • Dutch Cup: 1983, 1986, 1987.
• AC Milan:
  • European Cup: 1989, 1990 (now called: UEFA Champions League).
  • Intercontinental Cup: 1989, 1990.
  • European Supercup: 1989, 1990.
  • Italian Championship: 1988, 1992, 1993.
  • Italian Super Cup: 1988, 1992, 1993.

International

• European Championship: 1988.

Individual

• FIFA World Player of the Year: 1992.
• World Soccer Player of the Year: 1988, 1992.
• European Footballer of the Year: 1988, 1989, 1992.
• European Golden Boot: 1986.
• European Championship 1988 Top Scorer and Best Player.
• Italian League Top Scorer: 1990, 1992.
• Dutch League Top Scorer: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987.

[edit] Managing career

Van Basten officially left Milan in 1995 and retired from football, stating he would never try management. However, he changed his mind and took a course with the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB). His first stint as a manager was as an assistant to his former teammate John van 't Schip with the second team of Ajax in 2003-04. On 29 July 2004, Van Basten was named as the new manager of the Dutch national team, with van 't Schip as his assistant.

As a coach, he soon established himself as a man of strong principles. Van Basten famously dropped regulars like Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids and Roy Makaay and benched Mark van Bommel, because all five were either past their prime, injured, or constantly underachieving.

There were also calls for Van Basten to call up Dennis Bergkamp who had retired from the national team 6 years earlier for a final hurrah as he was retiring that season. Van Basten then revealed to the media that he never intended to do so despite Bergkamp's own willingness and the national team's lack of a playmaker.

For probably the first time in decades, none of the "Big Three" Clubs (Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven, and Feyenoord Rotterdam) provided the backbone for the national team. Instead newcomer AZ Alkmaar led the way with relatively unknown players like Denny Landzaat, Barry Opdam, Barry van Galen, Ron Vlaar, Jan Kromkamp and Joris Mathijsen. Other unheralded choices were Khalid Boulahrouz, Hedwiges Maduro, Ryan Babel and Romeo Castelen. Van Basten had also wanted to include Ivorian forward Salomon Kalou, but was thwarted when Kalou was denied Dutch citizenship by the immigration authorities.

To date his selections have proven successful in rejuvenating the Dutch national side. Under his guidance, the team were unbeaten in their World Cup qualification group and made it through the group stages at the FIFA World Cup 2006, but were eliminated in a frenzied 1-0 loss to Portugal in the Round of 16. Van Basten was heavily criticised for dropping Ruud van Nistelrooy (who had scored twenty-eight goals for Holland) before this game, in favour of Arjen Robben (7 goals) (left winger), Dirk Kuyt (4 goals) (centre forward), Robin van Persie (2 goals) and eventually substituting Dirk Kuyt for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (no goals) in the 84th minute.

Van Basten has a contract with the KNVB for managing the Dutch national side until 2008. The KNVB has expressed its wishes to extend his contract to include the World Cup qualification route to 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

In November 2006, van Basten chose to recall exiled Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf for a friendly against England at the Amsterdam ArenA. Other players, such as Roy Makaay, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Mark van Bommel and Edgar Davids, however, remain out of favour.

[edit] External links

• Marco van Basten fansite
• Marco van Basten extensive profile at AC Milan Online

Preceded by Peter Houtman	Dutch Eredivisie Topscorer 1983-1987	Succeeded by Wim Kieft
Preceded by Ruud Gullit	European Footballer of the Year 1988, 1989	Succeeded by Lothar Matthäus
Preceded by Jean-Pierre Papin	European Footballer of the Year 1992	Succeeded by Roberto Baggio
Preceded by Lothar Matthäus	FIFA World Player of the Year 1992	Succeeded by Roberto Baggio
Preceded by Ruud Gullit	World Soccer Player of the Year 1988	Succeeded by Ruud Gullit
Preceded by Jean-Pierre Papin	World Soccer Player of the Year 1992	Succeeded by Roberto Baggio
Preceded by Dick Advocaat	Netherlands national football team manager 2004-	Succeeded by Incumbent

	Netherlands squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup
1 van Breukelen | 2 van Aerle | 3 Rijkaard | 4 R. Koeman | 5 van Tiggelen | 6 Wouters | 7 E. Koeman | 8 Vanenburg | 9 van Basten | 10 Gullit | 11 Witschge | 12 Kieft | 13 Rutjes | 14 van 't Schip | 15 Roy | 16 Hiele | 17 Gillhaus | 18 Fräser | 19 van Loen | 20 Winter | 21 Blind | 22 Menzo | Coach: Beenhakker

	Netherlands squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 van der Sar | 2 Jaliens | 3 Boulahrouz | 4 Mathijsen | 5 van Bronckhorst | 6 Landzaat | 7 Kuyt | 8 Cocu | 9 van Nistelrooy | 10 van der Vaart | 11 Robben | 12 Kromkamp | 13 Ooijer | 14 Heitinga | 15 de Cler | 16 Maduro | 17 van Persie | 18 van Bommel | 19 Vennegoor of Hesselink | 20 Sneijder | 21 Babel | 22 Timmer | 23 Stekelenburg | Coach: van Basten