Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Marco van Basten (born October 31, 1964 in Utrecht
(city)|Utrecht) is a former Netherlands|Dutch
football (soccer)|football player who played for
Ajax Amsterdam and A.C. Milan in the 1980s. He is
regarded as one of the finest strikers of all time
and scored 276 goal (sport)|goals in a career cut
short by injury.

== Playing career ==

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 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 Ec|88 van Basten had a
dazzling run of form, including three goals
against England national football team|England and
a spectacular volley in the final against the USSR
national football team|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
UEFA Champions League|European Cup. In 1989-90 he
was Capocannoniere (Serie A's leading goal scorer)
and Milan defended their European Cup
successfully. The Netherlands national football
team|Dutch national side had a very poor World Cup
in Football World Cup 1990|1990, finally going out
to Germany national football team|West Germany in
the second round.

Milan's 1990-91 European season was ruined in the
semi-final against Olympique de
Marseille|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 U.C. 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 Ec|92 to Denmark national
football team|Denmark in a penalty shootout
(football)|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 Calcio|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.



==Coaching 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 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 Netherlands
national football team|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 Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and
Patrick Kluivert, who were either past their best
or constantly underachieving, and picked
previously little-known players like Khalid
Boulahrouz, Danny Landzaat, Barry Van Galen, Ron
Vlaar and Joris Matthijsse. To date, his
selections have proved successful in rejuvenating
the Dutch national side.