Marco van Basten, the swan of Utrecht
Marco van Basten was synonymous with goals for much of his career, but he was also just as synonymous with injuries. He was one of the greatest offensive talents in the history of football, but he was unable to reach his full potential due to the recurring and very serious injuries that followed him in the final stage of his career, leading to an early retirement.
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Beginnings
Marcel "Marco" van Basten was born on 31 October 1964 in Utrecht and started playing football at the age of 6, first for EDO, then UVV and then USV Elinkwijk, all clubs in the Utrecht region. In 1981, at the age of 16, Ajax signed him for their youth teams, coinciding with Johan Cruyff's return to the club. Cruyff is said to have given young Marco plenty of advice, and he made his professional debut in 1982, replacing the former Barcelona player and scoring his first goal in the 5-0 win over NEC. At the start of the 1983-84 season, Wim Kieft, Ajax's top scorer, left for Italian Pisa, leaving a gap in the forward line of the Dutch team's starting eleven, a spot which went to van Basten.From that season onwards, he was the top scorer in the Dutch league four times in a row and in 1985-86, he won the European Golden Boot. In December 1986, he suffered an injury to his right ankle that forced him to undergo surgery, something that did not prevent him from scoring 43 goals in 43 games in 1986-87. During his time at Ajax, he won 3 Dutch league titles and 3 Dutch cups and ended his season by winning the 1986-87 European Cup Winners' Cup, scoring the only goal in the final against Lokomotive Leipzig. That Ajax team included players such as Frank Rijkaard and a young Dennis Bergkamp, as well as Johan Cruyff as manager.
Next stop - AC Milan
van Basten's form attracted several offers, but it was Milan in the summer of 1987 who managed to complete the signing, along with his compatriot Ruud Gullit, who arrived from PSV Eindhoven. Both would be the only non-Italian players in the Rossoneri team, as this was what was permitted at that time in Serie A. Until then, Milan had had a very difficult decade in the 80s with two relegations to Serie B and without winning a single title. The arrival of Silvio Berlusconi in 1986 was intended to completely turn the club around and from there came the bet on the Dutch duo and (at that time) a semi-unknown manager with the name Arrigo Sacchi, who arrived from Parma in Serie B.Upon arriving at Milan, van Basten suffered a serious injury to his right ankle and had to undergo another operation, which meant he missed the first six months of the 1987-88 season. That version of Milan had important names such as Baresi, Maldini, Costacurta, Tassotti, Ancelotti and Donadoni, as well as Gullit himself, who was the star in the absence of his compatriot. van Basten returned for the end of the season, scoring a key goal in the 28th matchday against their title rivals, Maradona's Napoli. The Rossoneri club was crowned Italian champions again after nine dry years.
Van Basten was to be part of the Dutch squad for Euro 88 in Germany. The tournament began with a 1-0 defeat to the Soviet Union, but a hat-trick from the Milan striker gave them a 3-1 victory over England in the second round. A solitary goal from Kieft allowed Holland to beat Ireland and qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament, where they had to face the hosting country Germany. van Basten scored the winning goal in the 88th minute to reach the final against the Soviet Union. The match was played at the Olympiastadion in Munich and the Utrecht native scored one of the most spectacular goals in the history of the Euro, when he made a low-angle volley that served to establish the definitive 2-0 in the final and give his country the title. That year, van Basten would win the Ballon d'Or, in a triplet that included his compatriots, Gullit and Rijkaard.
Having restored Milan to domestic glory, the following season the focus was on Europe. Sacchi's side eliminated Real Madrid by an aggregate score of 6-1, including a 5-0 thrashing at the San Siro. van Basten scored both at the Santiago Bernabeu and in Italy. In the final they faced Romanian Steaua Bucharest, who had been champions of the tournament in 1986 and who had, among others, Gheorghe Hagi. Milan produced one of the best performances seen in a European Cup final, clearly beating the Romanian team 4-0 with double goals from both Gullit and van Basten.
In the 1989-90 season, the Dutch striker had to undergo another operation, this time on his knee, although he made a relatively quick comeback and was even able to win his second consecutive Ballon d'Or. van Basten scored 19 goals in 26 Serie A games, however, there were some strange refereeing decisions that harmed Milan and kept them from winning the title, although they did manage to lift the European Cup trophy once again, after beating Benfica 1-0 with a goal from Rijkaard, assisted by van Basten.
The Utrecht native was always close to Johan Cruyff, who in 1990 was manager of Barcelona and wanted to bring the striker to Catalonia. van Basten's relationship with Sacchi was not good, but the good results made up for the problems. This relationship led the striker to consider a move to Barcelona, which Silvio Berlusconi tried to prevent, since the Dutchman was his favourite player on the team. In that season (1990-91) they were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the European Cup after two lights went out in the second leg match against Marseille, which led Adriano Galliani, Milan's sporting director, to ask the team not to go out to continue the match. This ended with Milan being eliminated and furthermore banned from European football for one year.
At the end of that season, it emerged that there had been an argument between van Basten and Sacchi, which led the Dutchman to go to Berlusconi and say, according to his own autobiography, "it's either him (Sacchi) or me". Following that situation, Berlusconi removed Sacchi from his position as manager and brought in Fabio Capello as his replacement for the following season.
Unable to participate in Europe, the Rossoneri team could concentrate solely on Serie A, where they had an impressive performance and would finish undefeated with 74 goals for (25 were by van Basten) and only 21 against. van Basten would go on to win the 1992 Ballon d'Or, joining a select group of players who had won it three times, including Michel Platini and Johan Cruyff.
The beginning of the end
Shortly after receiving the latest award, in December 1992, he decided to have an operation on his ankle, against the advice of the Milan doctor. He was guided by the advice of a doctor he trusted who had already operated on him in 1986 and who told him that the recovery would be short. However, two months after the operation, he was still experiencing pain in his ankle, something he had not felt before and the ankle was red and swollen. Milan qualified for the 1993 Champions League final and van Basten did everything possible to return as soon as possible from his injury to be present at that final. His return would be on 25 April 1993 (a month and a day before the final) against Udinese.That season they would win the Serie A and van Basten would play a couple of full matches against Ancona and Roma, and even score a goal, despite still having pain in his ankle. The striker would seek another medical opinion, a Belgian doctor who recommended that he undergo surgery after the Champions League final. In order to play in the final, he had to take an injection to cope with the pain in his ankle. That night he would start in the final and it was played at the Olympiastadion, the same stage where he had achieved perhaps his greatest success, Euro 88. In this case, the result would not favor Milan who fell 1-0 against Marseille. In the 86th minute, the 28 years old Dutch striker was substituted because he received a strong tackle and without knowing it, it would be the last time he would be seen on a pitch as a professional football player.
After the final he had an operation, but his condition did not improve and this led him to miss the entire 1993-94 season and watch from the sidelines as his teammates were crowned European champions again. van Basten would try everything, even using a somewhat drastic method that included placing screws in his ankle that simply left the player with more damage. When the screws were removed, the Dutchman could barely put weight on his foot to get out of bed, which led him to take the decision to retire from football in the summer of 1995, at the age of just 30.
In the Dying Swan chapter of his autobiography, van Basten would say about the day of his retirement that:
"...the pain has been in my ankle for years, but today it is gone. In fact, all the pain is gone. Dazed, numb, defeated, I don't know what to call it. Unreal. It is as if I am not there myself. But I walk. And I clap. And everyone keeps singing, shouting and clapping. It shivers. This stadium. My stadium. I suddenly feel it. Crystal clear. It hits. Under the eye of the eighty thousand. I am a witness for my own farewell".