Marcel ("Marco") van Basten (October 31, 1964 in 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, he earned the titles "San Marco" and "The Swan Of Utrecht". Van Basten was named European Footballer of the Year three times (1988, '89 and '92) and FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992.
| File:Marcob.jpg | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marcel van Basten | ||
| Position(s) | Manager (former Striker) | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Netherlands | ||
Playing career
Van Basten played very briefly for Elinkwijk 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. 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 serving for Ajax, as he did not only prove to be a prolific goalscorer, but also to be in possession of a brilliant technique. During the 1982-1983 season he had 1982's European topscorer, Wim Kieft, as his main rival for Ajax's striker position, which caused him to play only 20 games, scoring 9 goals. However, his performances in that season were enough to convince the board of Ajax to release Kieft to Serie A club Pisa, continuing the mid-eighties with the teenage forward.
He repaid the confidence they had in him with no less than four consecutive topscorer titles (1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987), scoring an amazing amount of 117 goals in only 112 matches. A highlight of this great run was the year 1985/1986, when he made 37 goals in 26 matches (including six against Sparta and five against Heracles) in the Dutch competition, making him the victor of the European Golden Boot that year. Van Basten had proven himself to once again be essential for Ajax in the 1986-87 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, scoring the only goal in a win over FC Lokomotive Leipzig.
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 (edit conflict × 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, winning 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 very 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 went out of (edit conflict × 92) to Denmark in a semi-final penalty shootout, Van Basten having his saved by the Great Dane, 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 managed to score a goal (from a header) before being substituted early in the first half.
Honors
- European Championship: 1988.
- European Champions' Cup: 1989, 1990, 1994.
- UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1987.
- Intercontinental Cup: 1989, 1990.
- European Supercup: 1989, 1990, 1994.
- Dutch Championship: 1982, 1983, 1985.
- Italian Championship: 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994.
- Dutch Cup: 1983, 1986, 1987.
- FIFA World Player of the Year: 1992.
- World Soccer Player of the Year: 1988, 1992.
- European Footballer of the Year: 1988, 1989, 1992.
Managing career
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 manager was as an assistant to his former teammate John van't Schip with the second team of Ajax in 2003-2004. 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. Like many others, he declared he would pick players only "by performance", but he was unusual in actually following through on this policy. Van Basten famously dropped superstars like Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Andy van der Meyde, Edgar Davids and Roy Makaay, and benched Mark van Bommel, because all six were either past their best or constantly underachieving. For probably the first time since the Second World War, none of the "Big Three" Clubs (Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven, and Feyenoord Rotterdam) provided the backbone for the national team, 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, Hedwiges Maduro, Ryan Babel or Romeo Castelen. To date, his selections have proven successful in rejuvenating the Dutch national side. Under his guidance, the Dutch team made it out of their group 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) for this game, in favour of Arjen Robben (7 goals) (Left Winger), Dirk Kuyt (4 goals) (Center Forward), Robin Van Persie (2 goals) (right winger) and eventually replacing Dirk Kuyt with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (no goals) in the 84th minute, much to the dissapointment of van Nistelrooy and the Dutch fans.
Van Basten has a contract with the KNVB for managing the Dutch side until 2008, including the 2008 European Football Championship. The KNVB has expressed its wishes to extend his contract to include the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.