Basta, the biography of Marco van Basten, has been translated into Catalan. In honor of the publication of the book, of which the Dutch version was already released in 2019, the former top attacker has given an interview to El Periódico. In conversation with the Catalan morning paper, Van Basten looks back on his career, which ended prematurely due to a lingering ankle injury.
In 1995, at the age of thirty, Van Basten had to end his career due to a serious ankle injury. At that time, he had not played for his club AC Milan for almost two and a half years. After persistent ankle injuries, he was taken care of by his regular surgeon, René Marti. The doctor operated on Van Basten a total of four times, but the desired result was not forthcoming. “I do not know whether the doctors have always helped me, because the situation has not really improved from 1992. I have the impression that after each operation it went worse rather than better”, Van Basten said during his farewell speech in 1995 at the San Siro.
How is his right ankle now? Van Basten still cannot do everything with the joint, he says. “It doesn’t hurt. I can’t do all the moves, but I can play squash and golf. I’m glad I can do at least something. I can’t play football, but squash and golf are enough at my age.” Squash is also an intensive sport, says Van Basten. “But there is no audience in the stands, the space is smaller, only three to five meters, and you play more with your head than with your body.” Van Basten does miss football, he admits. “Yes, yes. You try not to think about it, but sometimes I sit on the couch and I can only think that football is all I had until I couldn’t play at the age of 28. It’s very strange, it’s something from a distant past, but it’s sad to dwell on it. ”
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In Catalan it is the title of the biography Basta stayed, or ‘Enough’. One of the reasons for that title is that Van Basten is fed up with the pain he has been through. “Yes, that plays a role. We found ‘Basta’ a simple phrase that is easy to understand and remember. And it’s a nod to my name. You can interpret it however you want. It’s true that the doctors were more dangerous to me. than most defenders “, says Van Basten. “In retrospect, it was better to stay away from the doctors. Sometimes they make mistakes. Of course they don’t do that on purpose, but what they did to me was not successful. One of the operations was cleaning the ankle. “That was the worst, because after that I couldn’t play anymore. They said it was the easiest operation of all, but it turned out to be a disaster.” Although his career came to a premature end, Van Basten was known as one of the best footballers in the world. He won the Ballon d’Or three times and was twice World Footballer of the Year. Did he see himself as the best player of his time? ” No, because in my time Maradona, Gullit, Rijkaard and Baresi also played. “
“I was a good footballer, but it’s hard to say I was the best. I was the striker and scored goals; Baresi was the defender and avoided goals. I was part of a great Milan. Winning Ballon d’Ors.” It’s because I was the center forward of Milan, the club that gave me every chance to perform at the highest level. I was part of a team. It’s hard for me to say that I was the one who made the difference. I am convinced that players such as Rijkaard, Gullit, Ancelotti, Costacurta and Baresi were just as important to the team as I was ”, concludes Van Basten, who nowadays mainly appears as an analyst on TV in broadcasts of Ziggo Sport, including Rondo. he regularly sits at the table with his former teammate Gullit.