MARCEL VAN BASTEN Born: 31 October 1964 in Utrecht. Nickname: Marco. Position: Centre forward. Caps: Holland 58 (1983-1992) / 24 goals League Games: Holland 133 (1981-1987) / 128 goals Italy 147 (1987-1993) / 90 goals European Cup Games: 43 (1983-1993) / 30 goals International Club Cup Games: European Champions Cup 27 (1983-1993) / 18 goals European Cup Winners’ Cup 9 (1986-1987) / 6 goals UEFA Cup 5 (1984-1988) / 5 goals European Super-Cup 2 (1989) / 1 goals Intercontinental Cup 2 (1988-89) / 0 goal Domestic Cup Games: Dutch Cup 22 (1981-1987) / 13 goals ‘Coppa Italia’ 23 (1987-1993) / 14 goals European Footballer of the Year: 1986 (8th), 1987 (6th), 1988 (winner), 1989 (winner), 1991 (19th), 1992 (winner) Dutch Footballer of the Year: 1985 Trophies & Tournaments: World Cup participant: 1990 European Championship: 1988 (winner), 1992 (3rd) European Champions Cup-Winner: 1989, 1990 European Champions Cup finalist: 1993* European Cup Winners Cup: 1987 UEFA-Cup Finalist: – European Super-Cup winner: 1989, 1990 Intercontinental Cup winner: 1989, 1990 Dutch Champion: 1982, 1983, 1985 Dutch runner-up: 1986, 1987 Dutch Cup winner: 1983, 1986, 1987 Dutch Cup beaten finalist: - Italian Champion: 1988, 1992, 1993 Italian runner-up: 1990, 1991 Italian Cup winner: - Italian Cup beaten finalist: 1990 Italian Super-Cup winner: 1988, 1992 * did not play in final Top League Goal Scorer: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992. Van Basten had had it all. He was graceful, yet powerful, two-footed with tremendous close control, and was quick on the turn and supreme in the air. Marco van Basten will always be remembered as one of the most feared marksmen of the 1980s and 90s. He possessed every attribute one could hope for in a centre forward-he was a striker who truly was complete. Van Basten began his career with Ajax in 1981, and as one might expect, scored on his league debut and only appearance of his first season. That season Ajax won the title and in the following year completed a Dutch double, with Van Basten playing a more influential role. In the next 4 years Van Basten hit goal after goal in the Eredivisie and won the Cup Winners Cup with Ajax earning himself a lucrative move to Italy with AC Milan. Milan had only recently been taken over by media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi who was to pour millions into the club in search of success. In his first season at Milan Van Basten got off to a slow start, playing just 11 league games and scoring on just 3 occassions. However, Milan won Lo Scudetto and Van Basten headed off to the European Championships in search of further glory. The performances he turned in in the summer of 1988 gained Van Basten a place in football history. Despite the injuries that had hampered his time at Milan, Van Basten top scored at Euro 88 as Holland recorded their first major success. Following a hat-trick against England, Van Basten scored a late winner against West Germany to secure Holland a place in the final. In that final he scored one of the games most memeorable goals- a phenomenal volley- to see off a strong Soviet Union side. Van Basten capped this success by being named European Player of the Year, the first of three such awards (a record only Cruyff and Platini can match). Van Basten returned to Milan and helped them to back to back European Cup victories, the last club to do so. Milan faced a difficult task in the EC, but they anhiliated Real Madrid in the semi-final second leg, in one of the game’s all time great displays. Van Basten himself scored a brace in the 4-0 thrashing of Steau Bucharest in the final. The following season Van basten topscored in Serie A, and was again to the fore as Milan retained their European crown disposing of both Real Madrid and FC Bayern in the process. However, he was to be disappointed at the World Cup as the widely tipped Dutch were knocked out early on and Van Basten failed to score a goal. The Dutch failed to win a single game, drawing with Egypt, England and Ireland before losing to W Germany in thesecond round. Van Basten’s only highpoint was winning an undeserved penalty against the German’s to get a consolation goal. The next season was one of relative underachievement for Milan as they finished second and Van Basten scored just 11 goals, but they were to more than make up for this the next year. The 1991-2 season is one that will live forever for fans of the Rossoneri, and it was Van Basten that led the way. Milan were undefeated in the league in the entire year, but on the last day of the season faced a tricky away trip at Foggia. Although Van Basten put Milan ahead, they trailed 2-1 at the break. The second half was a performance, the likes of which may never be seen again. Milan put 7 past a shell-shocked Foggia, van Basten ending with a hat-trick, to maintain an unprescendented unbeaten season, and Van Basten ended as Capocanieri. The European Championships were not so favourable. Although Van Basten played well throughout, he was named in the team of the tournament, the Dutch were again disappointed. Van Basten needed just one goal to become the all-time highest goalscorer in European Championship football, but the closest he came was hitting the bar in the group stage. After breezing through their group, ahead of Germany, Scotland and the CIS, Holland shockingly lost to Denmark in the semifinals, with Van Basten of all people missing a decsisve spotkick in the shootout. The 1992-3 sason was an excellent one for Milan but Van Basten was again beset by injuries. He scored 13 goals in 15 league games, and returned to the Milan side for the European Cup final against Marseille. Milan went down 1-0 and Van Basten himself was at fault for one particularly glaring miss. It was to be his last game in football. A challenge from Basille Boli, Marseille’s matchwinner, injured his ankle and despite a series of operations, Van Basten was never able to recover. His career was over at just 28. Marco Van Basten was a truly inspirational striker, who scared defences throughout the world before injury robbed us of his gifts. At his best Van Basten was simply unstoppable and his goals per game ratio is almost unparalleled in the modern game. However, despite his injuries, his record in club football, and his incredible goal in 1988 will remain forever as testament to the brilliance of the Dutch master. League Statistics per Season Season - Club - Games – Goals – [Caps / Goals] 1981/82 Ajax Amsterdam...............01 / 01 1982/83 Ajax Amsterdam...............20 / 09 1983/84 Ajax Amsterdam...............26 / 28 [ 2 / 2 ] 1984/85 Ajax Amsterdam...............33 / 22 [ 5 / 1 ] 1985/86 Ajax Amsterdam...............26 / 37 [ 3 / 1 ] 1986/87 Ajax Amsterdam...............27 / 31 [ 4 / 2 ] 1987/88 AC Milan.........................11 / 03 [ 8 / 5 ] 1988/89 AC Milan.........................33 / 19 [ 6 / 2 ] 1989/90 AC Milan.........................26 / 19 [ 9 / 2 ] 1990/91 AC Milan.........................31 / 11 [ 7 / 8 ] 1991/92 AC Milan.........................31 / 25 [ 9 / 1 ] 1992/93 AC Milan.........................15 / 13 [ 3 / 0 ] European Cup Games 1983/84 Ajax Amsterdam...EC I.......02 / 00 1984/85 Ajax Amsterdam...EC III.....04 / 05 1985/86 Ajax Amsterdam...EC I.......02 / 00 1986/87 Ajax Amsterdam...EC II......09 / 06 1987/88 AC Milan.............EC III.....01 / 00 1988/89 AC Milan.............EC I.......09 / 09 1989/90 AC Milan.............EC I.......07 / 03 1990/91 AC Milan.............EC I.......02 / 00 1991/92 AC Milan.............EC I.......02 / 00 1992/93 AC Milan.............EC I.......05 / 06
Thanks. Good to know it's appreciated. Here is a link to the master thread of profiles. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232370
Some great goals from Van Basten, including the most perfect bike and my favorite goal of all time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFp25ffbNBE
There is absolutely no question that Marco Van Basten was an incredible player, and that he is without debate an all time great. Now if only his managerial abilities or people skills would improve.
Before the Champions and Uefa cup, there was: Europe cup I = Champions cup Europe cup II = Uefa cup Europe cup III = Cup Winners Cup
OK, thanks a lot!!! BTW, have you noticed some errors when it comes to the number of goals and appearances?? e.g. when you sum up the stats in European CUps Games it's 43 matches and 29 goals, not 30 as it is stated at the top - and now my question is which data is correct??
It should be 29 in 43. You can see a break down of those goals here http://www.rsssf.com/players/vanbasten-in-ec.html
Thanks for the link, I browsed this site as well - however, they did not add two appearances and a goal in the European Super Cup matches and two matches in Intercontinental Cup, so the total should be 47 / 30