Marco van Basten
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Marco van Basten (born October 31, 1964) is a former Dutch football player. He played for Ajax Amsterdam and A.C. Milan in the 1980s. He is regarded as one of the finest strikers of all time.
Van Basten was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands. He played very briefly for Elinkwijk before Ajax grabbed him. He played his first game for Ajax in April 1982 and was already proclaimed the new Johan Cruijff at that time.
In 1987 Silvio Berlusconi brought van Basten to Milan along with Ruud Gullit, 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 had a dazzling run of form - including scoring three against England and a spectacular volley in the final against the Soviet Union.
Boosted by his form in international competition, van Basten had a great season in 1988-89, he was European Footballer of the Year and scored 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, which led to the club receiving 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 disappointed as well, U.C. Sampdoria winning the scudetto. Van Basten clashed with manager Arrigo Sacchi and Berlusconi sacked Sacchi to placate him. Without European football in 1991-92 and under the leadership of Fabio Capello, Milan did not lose a single game in the league and retrieved the championship, Van Basten scored 25 goals and was Capocannoniere again. Internationally the Dutch went out of EURO 92 to Denmark in a penalty shootout, van Basten missing one.
Milan however stretched their unbeaten run into the 1992-93 season, going 58 matches in total before they lost a game. Van Basten had some great games in the early part of the season and was voted European Player of the Year for a third time before a return of his troublesome ankle injury while playing Ancona. Van Basten underwent another in a series of operations and returned to Milan for the final few domestic games and to lose the Champions League final to Marseille. The final was van Basten's last game for Milan; despite efforts, 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, a promise he has kept until recently when he decided that football was too important for him. He took a course with the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) and passed. His first stint as a coach was as an assistant to former teammate John van 't Schip at the second team of Ajax in season 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.
| Preceded by: Ruud Gullit | European Footballer of the Year 1988 | Succeeded by: retained |
| Preceded by: current holder | European Footballer of the Year 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 Template:End boxde:Marco van Basten es:Marco van Basten it:Marco van Basten he:מרקו ואן באסטן nl:Marco van Basten no:Marco van Basten ja:マルコ・ファン・バステン fi:Marco van Basten sv:Marco van Basten |