Elinkwijk
(Holland), Ajax (Holland), AC Milan (Italy)
Honours
???
Biography
Marcel van Basten, known as Marco van Basten (October 31, 1964,
Utrecht), is a former Dutch 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
volleys. His grace earned him the titles "San Marco" and "The
Swan Of Utrecht". Van Basten, who was named European Footballer
of the Year three times (1988, '89 and '92) and FIFA World
Player of the Year (1992) is currently the coach of the Dutch
national team.
Van Basten played very briefly for Elinkwijk before Ajax signed
him. He played his first game for Ajax in April 1982 and was
proclaimed the new Johan Cruijff.
In 1987 Silvio Berlusconi brought Van Basten to Milan along with
fellow countrymen Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, joining them
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, in Euro 88 Van Basten showed a dazzling run of form,
including three goals against England and a spectacular volley
in the final against the Soviet Union.
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 to win the European Cup.
In 1989-90 he was Capocannoniere (Serie A's leading goal scorer)
and Milan defended their European Cup successfully. The Dutch
national side had a very poor World Cup in 1990, finally going
out to West Germany in the second round.
Milan's 1990-91 European season was ruined in the semi-final
against Olympique Marseille and the club received a year long
ban from European football. Van Basten had been banned for four
matches earlier in the competition following a cynical elbowing
offense. Domestically the club's season was also disappointing
and Sampdoria won the scudetto. Van Basten fell out with Milan's
manager Arrigo Sacchi and Berlusconi sacked Sacchi to placate
him. Undistracted by European football in 1991-92 and managed by
Fabio Capello, Milan did not lose a single game in the league
and won the championship, Van Basten scoring 25 goals and
becoming Capocannoniere again. Internationally the Dutch went
out of Euro 92 to Denmark in a penalty shootout, Van Basten
missing one.
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 in a 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.
Van Basten officially left Milan in 1995 and retired from
football, stating he would never try management. However, he
eventually realized that football was too important for him and
successfully took a course with the Royal Netherlands Football
Association (KNVB). His first stint as a coach was as an
assistant to his former teammate John van't Schip managing the
second team of Ajax in 2003-2004. On 29 July 2004, Van Basten
was named as the new head coach 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. Like many others, he declared he would pick players
only "by performance", but he was unusual in actually following
this policy. Van Basten famously dropped superstars like
Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert or Andy van der Meyde and
benched Edgar Davids and Mark van Bommel, because all five were
either past their best or constantly underachieving. For
probably the first time after the war, neither club of the "Big
Three" Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven or Feyenoord Rotterdam
provided the backbone of the Elftal, but newcomer AZ Alkmaar
with relatively unknown players like Denny Landzaat, Barry Opdam,
Barry van Galen, Ron Vlaar, Jan Kromkamp or Joris Mathijsen.
Other remarkable choices were Khalid Boulahrouz, Dirk Kuyt,
Hedwiges Maduro, Ryan Babel or Romeo Castelen. To date, his
selections have proven successful in rejuvenating the Dut.
