Marco van Basten

Lore & Background

Van Basten was born on 31 October 1964 in Utrecht and grew up in the Oog In Al neighborhood. He began playing for a local team, EDO, when he was six years old. A year later, he moved to UVV Utrecht. After nine years there, he briefly played for another club from Utrecht, Elinkwijk. Ajax signed him for the 1981–82 season. He played his first match for Ajax on 3 April 1982, coming on as a substitute for Johan Cruyff, and scoring a debut goal in the team's 5–0 victory over NEC. He was the top scorer in the league for four consecutive seasons, from 1983–84 to 1986–87, scoring 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 also scored the winning goal in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final against Lokomotive Leipzig in 1987. In total he scored 128 goals in 133 league matches for Ajax. In November 1986 he scored his most famous goal in an Ajax jersey, a spectacular overhead kick against FC Den Bosch. In 1987, Milan president Silvio Berlusconi signed Van Basten, along with fellow countryman Ruud Gullit. In 1988, the Dutch legion got completed when Frank Rijkaard joined the club. In his first 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 19 goals in Serie A and 32 goals in all competitions 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; Milan also successfully defended the European Cup after beating Benfica 1–0 in the final match, during which Van Basten provided the assist for Rijkaard's match-winning goal. Milan struggled in 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 following season, and Milan went undefeated in the league to win another Scudetto. Van Basten scored 25 league goals, and became Capocannoniere again; his tally from the 1991–92 season was the highest number of goals that a player had scored in a single Serie A season since Luís Vinício achieved the same tally during the 1965–66 season. In November 1992, he beca

In Their Own Story

The rain slicked the pitch at Munich’s Olympiastadion as the clock wound down against the Soviet Union. With the score tied, Marco waited on the edge of the box for a high cross from Rijkaard. Time seemed to suspend in the heavy air; with impossible grace for his stature, he leaped, twisting mid-flight to connect with the ball’s underside. The volley screamed past Shumakov into the top corner—no backlift, pure instinct—a moment of magic that silenced the arena before erupting in deafening celebration.

Reader's Guide

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. At club level, he won three Eredivisie titles and the Cup Winners' Cup with Ajax, and four Serie A titles and two European Cups with Milan. With the Netherlands, Van Basten won UEFA Euro 1988 where he earned the Golden Boot, scoring five goals, including a memorable volley in the final against the Soviet Union, considered one of the best ever. Although he was mainly known as a traditional attacker who operated in the penalty area as a centre-forward throughout his career, Van Basten also possessed excellent vision and distribution, in addition to his goalscoring ability, which enabled him to play in deeper, more creative positions, as a second striker, for example, and which allowed him to participate in the build-up of attacking plays and provide assists to his teammates in addition to scoring goals himself; one of his most notable assists was the one he provided to Frank Rijkaard for Milan's winning goal in the 1990 European Cup final against Benfica. Despite his large stature, Van Basten possessed excellent technical skills and ball control, as well as good balance and a notable elegance on the ball, which inspired his nickname. As such, his strong physique, combined with his close control, also enabled him to hold up the ball for teammates when playing with his back to goal.

Did You Know?

• Van Basten played his last game at the age of 28, followed by an early retirement at just 30, due to a recurring ankle injury.
• He was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players in 2004.
• In 1998, Van Basten 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 Football, consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century.
• 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.