Marco van Basten
Marco van Basten is a Dutch former football manager and former professional football player, who played for Ajax and A.C. Milan, as well as the Dutch National Team, as a striker. Marco wrote the foreword in the book The Secret Balance of Champions - Health Challenges in Elite Sport and is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He scored 300 goals in a high-profile career, but played his last match in 1993 at age 28 due to an injury which forced his retirement two years later.
Known for his close ball control, attacking intelligence, impeccable headers, and spectacular strikes and volleys, Marco 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 three European Cups with Milan. With the Netherlands, Marco won UEFA Euro 1988 where he earned the Golden Boot, scoring five goals, including a memorable volley in the final against the Soviet Union.
In 1998, Marco 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, Marco was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. In 2004, a poll for the 100 greatest Dutch people was held in the Netherlands: Marco ranked number 25, the second highest for a football player, behind Johan Cruyff. In 2007, Sky Sports ranked Marco first on its list of great athletes who had their careers cut short.
From July 2004 until June 2008 Marco was head coach of the Dutch National Team. Later he was the head coach of Ajax(2008 – 2009), Heerenveen (2012 – 2014) and AZ (2014). In August 2016, Marco would take up a position at FIFA as technical director for two years. On the 2nd of December 2019 Marco released his autobiography ‘BASTA’.
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