Background
Marco van Basten was born on 31, October, 1964, in Utrecht, Netherlands to Joop van Basten and his wife Leny van Basten. His father Joop played football but only till semi-professional level.
Van Basten celebrates his goal for Ajax against Feyenoord in 1983.
Van Basten lifting the 1987 KNVB Cup for Ajax.
Van Basten celebrates his goal for Ajax against Feyenoord in 1983.
Van Basten lifting the 1987 KNVB Cup for Ajax.
Marco van Basten was born on 31, October, 1964, in Utrecht, Netherlands to Joop van Basten and his wife Leny van Basten. His father Joop played football but only till semi-professional level.
Van Basten joined the Dutch superpower Ajax in 1981, and he made his debut for their first-division side in 1982. The prolific striker led the Eredivisie (the top Dutch football league) in goals scored for four consecutive seasons (1983–84 through 1986–87), and he was the top European goal scorer during the 1985–86 campaign. Van Basten helped Ajax capture three Eredivisie titles (1981–82, 1982–83, and 1984–85) and three Dutch Cups (1983, 1986, and 1987) in his five full seasons with the club.
In 1987 he signed with Italy’s AC Milan. Although an ankle injury limited van Basten to just 11 games with Milan in his first season, the club won the 1987–88 Serie A league championship. Van Basten was at full strength as the Dutch national team won the 1988 European Championship and Milan won the European Cup (now the Champions League) in 1989 and 1990. He led Milan to two more Serie A championships in 1991–92 and 1992–93, as Milan was undefeated in 58 consecutive league matches over that span, including the entire 1991–92 season. His worsening ankle and subsequent unsuccessful surgeries forced him to miss two full seasons, and, after an attempted comeback fell through, he retired in 1995 at age 30.
Van Basten became the manager of the Dutch national team in 2004, and he guided the squad to the round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup. He left that position after the Netherlands was upset in the quarterfinals of the 2008 European Championship and was then named manager of Ajax. Van Basten resigned after just one season managing his former club, claiming that he did not believe that he could sufficiently improve the team after it failed to qualify for Champions League play. In 2012 he became the manager of SC Heerenveen, and in 2014 he took the same position at AZ Alkmaar, but health problems prompted him to step down after just five games, and he served as an assistant manager for the club thereafter.
Dutch footballer Marco van Basten is one of the greatest footballers to have ever played the game of football and during his rather short career, he lit up the world of football with outrageous goals and a consistency that is rarely found in many footballers.
Marco's most important achievement was that of scoring 5 goals in the European Championships of 1988 which helped his team win the title. He was also the highest goal scorer in the tournament.
Brazilian legend Pele named Van Basten in the ‘FIFA 100’ in 2004, which was a list of the greatest living footballers.
Quotations:
"Arsenal are the most beautiful club in England. At Man City and Chelsea, they will never have that class and style."
"Who is the Best Player in the World? Leo Messi."
"If Ryan Giggs is worth £20 million, Dennis Bergkamp is worth £100 million."
Quotes from others about the person
"Marco was the greatest striker I ever coached. His early retirement was a mortal misfortune for him, for football, and for Milan."
—Former Milan manager Fabio Capello
Marco van Basten got married to Liesbeth van Cappelleveen in 1993. The couple has two daughters - Rebecca and Deborah and a son Alexander.
