Marco Van Basten, “The Swan” of Utrecht!

Marco Van Basten
High class player. One of the most outstanding strikers in the world. Top goal scorer who distinguished himself with the clubs Ajax, AC Milan and the national team “Oranje”

Born under the name Marcel van Basten on October 31, 1964, in the Dutch city of Utrecht, the “Oranje” legend Marco van Basten started playing football when he was only seven years old, with the local children’s chain teams, where his talent immediately stood out his extraordinary. A year later, 1971, the striker entered UVV Utrecht, where he spent almost his entire career as a young player.

However, it was the move to the famous Ajax team, the contract signed before the 1981-1982 season, that would make him one of the greatest center forwards of all time. With the extraordinary quality of a world-class footballer, Van Basten debuted for the giants of Amsterdam at the age of 18, exactly in April 1982, replacing another Dutch icon, Johan Cruijff. Everything happened like a relay, and the youngster quickly entered the history of Dutch and later world football with a debut goal in a 5-0 win over NEC. Van Basten will soon become the best goal scorer in the “Eredivisie” for four consecutive years, which gave him recognition throughout the continent.

In 1986, he was awarded the European “Golden Boot” for 26 goals scored in 37 matches played in the championship with Ajax, of which six of them came in a single match against Sparta Rotterdam and another five against Heracles. After three league titles and three successes in the “Dutch Cup”, the “shooter” is crowned with Ajax, scoring in his career the victory against the East Germans at “Lokomotiv” Leipzig in the final of the 1987 UEFA Cup.

Having scored 128 times in 133 games played for Ajax, Van Basten joins Serie A giants AC Milan along with his compatriot Ruud Gullit against PSV Eindhoven. This couple was joined a year later by another Dutchman, Frank Rijkaard, forming together a formidable trio for any opponent in world football in the club ranks.

In Italy, Van Basten also had a “suffering” start, all of this due to an ankle injury that would in fact torment him all the time until it became the problem and the only reason for a bitter end at the end of his career. sports ahead of time. However, even in this condition, Van Basten wrote the history of that period in Italian football, at a time when Serie “A” was not only the most beautiful but also the most competitive and more difficult to win compared to the national championships of the world.

With Van Basten in the “Rossoneri” formation, they win the “Scudetto” for the first time after 8 years, even though the Dutch center forward will only play 11 games in that debut season because of his ankle that had just started to bother him in the long road of an ordeal that the Dutchman would go through.
The following season will immediately show the true qualities of this “predator” in front of goal. Van Basten scores 19 goals in Serie A and contributes with his side to Milan winning the European Champions Cup in the final against Steaua Bucharest, even scoring twice in exchange with his legendary friend Ruud Gullit in a 4-0 asphalting. Meanwhile, he became the best football player in Europe by winning the “Golden Ball”, a trophy that he would win three times.

In the 1989-1990 season, Van Basten finished with the title of “capo cannonieri” the best scorer in Serie A, helping Milan retain the title of European Champion Cup with the victory against Benfica in the final. The 1990-1991 season was somewhat less satisfactory for the striker and his club. After Sampdoria had won the duel with Milan for the domestic title, the year which also brought the dismissal of the coach Arrigo Sacchi. Fabio Capello took the reins at the San Siro and quickly put Milan on the path to glory.

This was made possible for the most part in this regeneration with Van Basten, who flourished under Capello, signing 25 times and topping the Serie A goal scoring charts. Milan to win the “Scudetto” title. In Europe, Van Basten wrote his name into the UEFA Champions League history books in November 1992 by becoming the first player to score four goals in a single game against Swedish champions IFK.

The fate of Milan seems to be strongly connected with those of Van Basten, and this was during that period when the club registered 58 unbeaten matches in its own field in “San-Siro” for Serie “A”. It was precisely the time when the now 28-year-old was voted European Footballer of the Year for the third time (1992), becoming only the third player after Michel Platini and Johan Cruijff who had received this trophy three times before. Unfortunately, ankle problems recurred forcing Van Basten to stay out of the fields for long periods of time and occasionally.

The Dutch striker had to undergo several operations after another serious injury suffered in a league match against Ancona, however, he managed to make his return at the end of the 1992/93 season. However, his return was short-lived. Van Basten later turned out to play his last career match with Milan in the Champions League final, which the Italians lost 1-0 against Olympique de Marseille.

Bazil Boli has made an extremely serious and unforgivable intervention, this has been the fatal damage to the world’s most dangerous centre-forward. Attempts to return did not stop even after this case but it was impossible and thus with tears in his eyes in front of all his fans and football admirers Marco van Basten announces his withdrawal from the game!!

It was 1995. He had a 10-year career with the national team “Oranje”. He wrote his name in 1983 in an edition of U-20 for the FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He was called for the first time in the first representative team of Holland, in September of the same year.

Of course, everyone remembers that Van Basten’s greatest success with the Oranje was undoubtedly at the UEFA EURO 1988 in Germany, where he scored a dream goal in the final against the Soviet Union, perhaps the most beautiful and most difficult to achieve in the 20th century. he launches a powerful bomb, hitting the ball in the air after taking advantage of Gulli’s cross… for the best goalkeeper in the world, Rinat Dasayev, it is a shock and a dizzying moment, who understands what it happened when I took the ball out of the gate.

Holland and Van Basten are at the top of Europe, in particular Marco is a double champion, add here the success of Milan that won in the duel with Napoli and Maradona, newly crowned world champion. In the future, activation with Oranje in international activities will not be successful. At the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the Dutch lost 2-1 in an interesting battle against German rivals in the last 16.

Meanwhile, two years later, Oranje reached the semi-finals stage of EURO 1992 in Sweden, Van Basten had “a shootout” with Peter Schmeichel of Denmark, who defeated Holland after penalty shootouts and, surprisingly, also winning the European tour. in the final against Germany.

Marco Van Basten starts to build his career as a trainer. With “Oranje”, he reached the finals stage in Germany 2006 undefeated, only to lose in the round of 16 against Portugal.

Two years later, at EURO 2008 in Austria/Switzerland, Van Basten’s time as coach of the national team came to an end, as his team could not pass Russia in the quarter-finals. Van Basten then returned as coach of his beloved Ajax ahead of the 2008/09 season, but did not fulfill his four-year contract, resigning in May 2009 after failing to lead the club to the Champions League. And why there was “noise” about taking over the management of his former club AC Milan, in the summer of 2009, Van Basten personally rejected every claim saying: “I am not ready for a job I have some problems with my ankle that I need to solve once and for all.”

Marco Van Basten`s Numbers and Trophies

– With Ajax he has scored 128 goals in 133 games!
– In Series “A” 147 matches, 90 goals
– In his career, 280 games with 218 goals
– With Holland, the numbers are 58 games with 24 goals.
– 4 times top scorer in the “Eredivisie” with Ajax 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87
– “Silver Shoe” 1983-84
– “Art Shoes” 1985-86
– The best player of the year for Holland: 1984-85
– “World Art Shoe” 1985-86
– Survey “Bravo” Award: 1987
– “Onze” magazine survey, silver award: 1987, 1992
– “Onze” magazine survey, gold award: 1988, 1989
– IFFHS Best Player of the Year: 1988, 1989, 1990
– World Soccer Player of the Year: 1988, 1992
– UEFA European Championship 1988. European Champion, the best player and the best scorer of the tournament with 5 goals (Top Scorer and Best Player)
– He was included in the golden 11 of the UEFA European Football Championship Teams of the Tournament: 1988, 1992.
– “Arte Ball” Ballon d’Or: 1988, 1989, 1992
– Serie A Runner-up in goalscoring: 1988–89
– UEFA Best Player of the Year: Best UEFA European Player: 1989, 1990, 1992
– Serie A Top Scorer: 1989–90, 1991–92
– Champions Cup: Top scorer 1989
– FIFA World Player of the Year: (The best player in the world: 1992