Marco van Basten

Early years

Marco 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

Ajax signed 16-year-old Marco 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. 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. Ajax chose to sell Kieft to Italian Serie A club Pisa the following season, and 18-year-old Van Basten solidified his position as his team's main attacker similarly in the national team. 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…

On 7 September 1983, Van Basten debuted for the Netherlands national football team during a UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying against Iceland. At UEFA Euro 1988, Van Basten played a pivotal role in the Dutch team's victorious campaign. He scored a total of five goals, including a hat-trick against England in the first round, the winning goal in the semi-final against West Germany, and a spectacular volley from an acute angle in the 2–0 final against the Soviet Union, during which he also provided the assist for Gullit's opening goal. He finished the competition as the top scorer and was named player of the tournament. He was also included in team of the tournament. In a 2002 UK poll, Van Basten's volley against the Soviet Union was ranked #21 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments. The Dutch national team exited the 1990 World Cup early, losing 2–1 to eventual champions West Germany in the second round. Van Basten never scored in the World Cup finals. At UEFA Euro 1992, the Netherlands defeated reigning World Champions Germany 3–1 in the first round to top their group and reach the semi-finals, where they surprisingly lost to the eventual champions Denmark in a penalty shoot-out, with Peter Schmeichel saving a penalty shot from Van Basten. Although he went scoreless throughout the tournament, he was included in team of the tournament for the second time in 1992.

Joining Ajax

Van Basten officially left Milan in 1995 and retired from football, stating he would never try management. However, he changed his mind and took a course with the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB). His first stint as a manager was as an assistant to his former teammate John van 't Schip with the second team of Ajax in 2003–04.

Netherlands

On 29 July 2004, Van Basten was named the new manager of the Netherlands national team, with Van 't Schip as his assistant. Van Basten's appointment as manager of the Netherlands sparked a little controversy at the time, since he only just started his managerial career and the media argued that he did not have a lot of experience yet.

After UEFA Euro 2004, veterans Frank de Boer and Jaap Stam retired from international football, while Michael Reiziger retired after being left out of Van Basten's first squad. Van Basten also omitted Ruud van Nistelrooy from that squad, as the striker was suspended for the first two games of 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification and Van Basten only wanted to use players eligible for those games. His debut on 18 August was a 2–2 draw away to Sweden. Van Basten dropped more experienced players such as Roy Makaay, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert and Edgar Davids, while sending several inexperienced AZ players to the World Cup, including Joris Mathijsen, Denny Landzaat and Kew Jaliens. Several veterans, including Edwin van der Sar, Phillip Cocu and Mark van Bommel, did make…

Club

International

Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Van Basten goal.