Marco van Basten

Marco van Basten

Marcel "Marco" van Basten (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑrkoː vɑn ˈbɑstə(n)] (About this soundlisten); born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and former professional football player, who played for Ajax and A.C. Milan, additionally because the Netherlands national team, as a striker. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He scored 300 goals in a high-profile career, but played his last match in 1993 at age 28 due to an injury which forced his retirement two years later.He was later the pinnacle coach of Ajax and also the Netherlands national team.

Playing for Netherlands, Van Basten won UEFA Euro 1988 where he was named player of the tournament, scoring five goals that included a memorable volley in the final against the Soviet Union.At club level, he won three Eredivisie titles and the Cup Winners' Cup with Ajax, and three Serie A titles and two European Cups with Milan.

Known for his close ball control, attacking intelligence, impeccable headers, and spectacular strikes and volleys, Van Basten was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992 and won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1988, 1989 and 1992. In 1998, he was ranked sixth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet poll, tenth in the European player of the Century election held by the IFFHS and 12th in the IFFHS' World Player of the Century election. He was also voted eighth in a poll organised by the French magazine France soccer, consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century.In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.In 2004, a poll for the 100 greatest Dutch people was held in the Netherlands: Van Basten ranked number 25, the second highest for a football player, behind Johan Cruyff. In 2007, Sky Sports ranked Van Basten first on its list of great athletes who had their careers cut short.

·       Playing career

·       Early years

Marco van Basten was born on thirty one Gregorian calendar month 1964 in Utrecht. He began playing for a local team, EDO, when he was six years old. A year later, he moved to UVV Utrecht. After 9 years there, he shortly contend for one more club from Utrecht, Elinkwijk.

·        Ajax

Ajax gave 16 year old Van Basten his debut 1981–82 season after his 20 year old brother Stanley was rejected April 1981, scoring in the 5–0 victory over NEC.

In the 1982–83 season, he competed with the European top scorer and first choice Holland international Wim Kieft for the position of Centre forward, and scored nine goals in 20 league matches. After Kieft left for Serie A club Pisa the following season, the 18-year-old Van Basten solidified his position as his team's main attacker while Kieft left for Italy.

He became a prime scorer within the league for four seasons from 1983–84 to 1986–87, grading 118 goals in 112 matches. In the 1985–86 season, he scored 37 goals in 26 league matches, including six goals against Sparta Rotterdam and five against Heracles Almelo, and won the European Golden Boot. He additionally scored the winning goal within the UEFA Cup Winners' final against Lokomotive Leipzig in 1987. In total he scored 148 goals in 133 league matches for Ajax.On November 1986 he scored his most famous goal in an Ajax jersey, a spectacular overhead kick against FC Den Bosch.

·       A.C. Milan

In 1987, Silvio Berlusconi signed Van Basten for A.C. Milan, with fellow countrymen Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard connexion in 1988. In his 1st season, Milan won their first Scudetto in eight years, but Van Basten played only 11 matches and was constantly troubled by an ankle injury.

In 1988–89, Van Basten won the Ballon d'Or as Europe's top footballer. He scored 32 goals in all competition that year including two goals in the final of the European Cup as Milan triumphed against Steaua București. In 1989–90, he became Capocannoniere again (Serie A's leading goal scorer) and Milan successfully defended the European Cup after beating Benfica in the final match.

Milan struggled within the 1990–91 season, as Sampdoria won the Scudetto. After Van Basten fell out with Arrigo Sacchi, Berlusconi sacked the manager. Fabio Capello took over the subsequent season, and Milan went undefeated in the league to win another Scudetto. Van Basten scored twenty five league goals, and became Capocannoniere again; his tally from the 1991–92 season was the highest number a goals that a player had scored in a single Serie A season since Luís Vinício achieved a similar tally throughout the 1965–66 season.

In Gregorian calendar month 1992, he became the first player to score four goals in a Champions League match, against IFK Göteborg, including a picture-perfect bicycle kick. In December 1992, Van Basten was named FIFA World Player of the Year.

Milan stretched their unconquered run into the 1992–93 season, going 58 matches over two seasons before they lost a match.Van Basten was exceptional in the early part of the season. He was again voted the European player of the year, becoming the third player after Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini to win the award three times.

His troublesome ankle injury recurred in a game against Ancona, forcing him to endure another six months layoff. He came for the previous few matches within the season, before Milan lost 1–0 to Marseille in the Champions League final. The match was Van Basten's final match for the Italian club.He came off within the 86th minute for Stefano Eranio once a brutal tackle behind from Basile Bolli condemned van Basten to the third ankle surgery of his career.