Marco van Basten was one of the greatest centre-forwards the game has known, a striker of extraordinary technique, elegance and instinct. Emerging at Ajax, where he was a prolific scorer, he moved to AC Milan and became the spearhead of Arrigo Sacchi’s revolutionary side, a team that swept European and domestic honours with dazzling attacking football.
Tall yet supremely graceful, he scored goals of astonishing quality, none more famous than the impossible volley that crowned the Netherlands’ triumph at the 1988 European Championship. A three-time Ballon d’Or winner, he formed part of the legendary Dutch trio at Milan alongside Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard.
A chronic ankle injury forced his retirement while still in his twenties, a loss the sport still laments. Even so, his brief peak was so brilliant that he is routinely counted among the finest players ever to grace the game.