The talk of Van Basten is the talk of the irony of footballers. The opening paragraph of the book Marco van Basten: De Jaren in Italic en Orange written by Zeeger van Herwaarden explains what Van Basten was like in front of his supporters. He said, Basten is different from Maradona who likes to mingle and become one with his fans. In front of his supporters, he always appeared as an untouchable footballer. That’s why, said Zeeger, “While the Argentinian child (read: Maradona) lives in the hearts of the people, the love for Van Basten is in the head.”
The best way to admire Van Basten is to admire him from afar. Just do it by admiring his magic goals. Basten is not the type of footballer to think that a group photo session or a request for autographs from fans is important. Presumably, as a footballer, Basten is well aware that his main task is to strive for victory for his team, not to be friendly and spread charm to his fans.
During his career, Basten gave many titles to the clubs he defended. He managed to lead Ajax to league champions in the 1981-1982, 1982-1983 and 1984-1985 seasons. It is said that since childhood Basten was forged by his father in football. His father who was an amateur coach formed Basten as a child who was not easily satisfied. No matter how good Basten’s game was, he never received praise from his father. If a small Basten was forged by his father, an adult Basten, while playing for Ajax, received a direct forging from the legend, Johan Cruyff.
If there are many people who believe that humility can lead a footballer to destruction, Cruyff actually instills the importance of an attitude of humility to the footballer with the title “Swan from Utrecht”. Basten came to Ajax when he was 17 years old. Perhaps because he was too young and his abilities were still considered raw by the Ajax coach at that time, Basten quite often became a bench warmer. However, as a mature footballer, Cruyff understands, no matter what ability Basten had at that time, he was not just a footballer.
So, based on this understanding, Cruyff did not want a footballer like Basten to only spend the first years of his career on the bench. Time and again, Cruyff in a tone of scorn and ridicule, told Basten that Basten was the best striker in the world. He must continue to play as a striker, otherwise it is better not to play at all.
And sure enough, Cruyff’s incitement was not in vain. Apart from growing up as a cold and arrogant footballer, Basten also often appears as a ruthless footballer.
Basten’s cruelty is shown by his achievements with the clubs he plays for. In the early days of his career, he managed to lead Ajax to league champions in the 1981-1982, 1982-1983 and 1984-1985 seasons. Moving to Milan, Basten was no less competitive than his compatriot seniors who had already played there. With Milan, Basten won four Scudetto and Super Copa Italiana. Not to mention the 1986-1987 season’s Champions Cup and the 1989 and 1990 UEFA Super Cups. Individual titles are also abundant. Basten received the Baloon dâOr three times: 1988, 1989 and 1992, as well as two Seria A Golden Boot seasons 1989-1990 and 1991 and 1992.
Check out Marco van Basten’s infographic as the Dutch goal machine
At club level, Basten is well-respected. But at the national team level, he couldn’t do much.
Basten had indeed led the Netherlands to win the Euro Cup in 1988. His goal against the Soviet Union in the final was one of the best goals ever. Basten’s heroism did not start with a very good thing. Rinus Michels, who was the Dutch coach at that time, did not include Basten’s name in the main squad with reasonable reasons. The 1987-1988 season, which was also Basten’s first season at Milan, did not go well. Instead of scoring spectacular goals, Basten is more often a resident of the bench due to a congenital injury.
In this event, Michels not only reserved Basten, but also gave him the jersey number 12 which he repeatedly referred to as the stands number. However, starting from the bench and the stands, we all know that in the end, it was Basten who became the hero.
Successfully becoming a Dutch hero in the 1988 Euro Cup did not immediately make Basten able to do much for his country in subsequent competitions. In his lifetime, Van Basten only had the opportunity to compete in the World Cup in 1990. In that event he only played four times without scoring once. Basten’s poor performance was also exacerbated by the issue of disharmony with Leo Beenhakker, who was then appointed as the successor to Rinus Michels.
The irony of Basten’s career as a footballer became even more pathetic as a result of the 1992 Euro Cup. As defending champions, the Netherlands certainly had more confidence.
Entering the semifinals, the Netherlands clearly had the upper hand. Moreover, their opponent at that time was only Denmark, which “coincidentally passed” the Euro Cup qualifying round. But who would have thought, until the extra time Denmark managed to hold the Dutch 2-2. What can I do, both of them have to go to the penalty shootout. Then, Basten became the only Dutch executor who failed to make Peter Schmeichel pick up the ball from his own net. The Netherlands went home without tasting the top party, while Denmark, stepped into the final and became champions.
The ironies experienced by Basten as a footballer are pathetic, but nothing can beat the severity of his ankle injury. He got this injury when Milan played against Ancola in the 1992-1993 Serie A competition. In fact, this is not the first time Basten has received a serious injury. Moreover, he did have a congenital injury. However, this injury made him have to move from one operating table to another.
Until finally, the struggle ended on August 17, 1995. After leaving the field and trying to recover for more than two years, Basten finally gave up and resigned as a footballer even though he was still 28 years old.
ASL
