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Marco Van Basten, Milan's swan punished by the Gods of football

A looked like a slim guy with a gentle face, but he was one of the most ruthless strikers in the history of football. As strong on the pitch as unlucky: he had to retire at his 30

by Mohamed Ezzat

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“San Marco “ is not the Christian saint who’s church lies in the heart of Venice, our “San Marco” is the player who was so prolific in front of the goal that the fans gave him this name. Our football saint is the Dutch player Marco (Marcel) Van Basten. Marco was born on the 31st October, 1964 in the city of Utrecht, where he started his football career at the age of 6 at a local team, EDO.

At the age of seven he moved to UVV, where he spent 9 years. After which he moved to another club in Utrecht named Elinkwijk. His professional career began in 1981, at the tender age of 17 Marco was spotted by Ajax's scouts. He was aware of the great prospects this opportunity could provide and hence agreed to join the famous football club in Amsterdam. 

 The coaches at Ajax immediately recognized Marco’s great potential. He demonstrated what a great striker he could become already in his debut (April 3, 1982), in which Van Basten immediately scored a goal. What's more, in that match he was substituted on for the famous Dutch footballer, Johan Cruyff. In the following season Marco scored 9 goals. However, his most important achievement arrived in 1983 when he earned a call up to the Dutch national team, on the 7th of September, in a match against Iceland. Van Basten scored his first goal for the Oranje only two weeks later, in a very prestigious match against Belgium. 

Marco was unrivalled in the Dutch Eredivisie; he was top scorer four times. He also won the Golden Boot Award in 1986 with 37 goals in only 26 matches! During his rip-roaring stay in Ajax, Marco scored 151 goals, appearing in 172 games and his outstanding performances for the Dutch club was topped off with a victory in the Cup Winner's Cup. As befits a champion, he found the back of the net in the final.

On the international stage, the Dutch striker scored some memorable goals like the one in the final against the USSR ending the game and the European championship in his country’s favor, as well as giving him the title of top goal scorer with 5 goals. He also gave his contribution in the 1990 World Cup and earned the third place in Euro 1992. His score with the Oranje is impressive as well: 58 caps, 24 goals.

Thursday's Europa League action didn't disappoint. Indeed, the first legs of the round of 16 provided an abundance of both drama and goals.

Betis achieved a famous away win over city rivals Sevilla, while Fiorentina claimed a fine 1-1 draw at Juventus. Elsewhere, there were big wins for Olympique Lyonnais and Valencia but the night arguably belonged to Portuguese duo Porto and Benfica, who saw off Napoli and Tottenham Hotspur, respectively.

Goal takes a look at Thursday night's Europa League action in pictures ...

The Germans were humiliated after losing 4-0 at home in the first encounter, they however managed to score first in the return clash at Parc des Princes but still lost 2-1.

Rolfes lauded his charges for their response in Paris despite being having a slim chance of progressing after conceding four away goals.

"We had a good character test. We could have gone in front, but unfortunately I missed the penalty," the 32-year-old midfielder told Sky Sports Germany immediately after the match.

"We did better today and we were compact. We wanted to earn something for our good performance, but that's football.

"Today we played with more aggression, we should take this to the Bundesliga to be successful again," he added.

Leverkusen's next match is a league encounter away against leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday evening.

AFP Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen (left) vies with German forward Miroslav Klose during the Euro 2012 football championships match between Denmark and Germany, on June 17, 2012 at the Arena Lviv in Lviv. Klose has said he wants to break Ronaldo's record of 15 World Cup goals before stepping down from international duty after Brazil 2014.  AFP

In Summary

Having scored 14 goals for Germany at the last three World Cup tournaments, Lazio's Klose is just one short of Brazil legend Ronaldo's record.

Germany kick-off their World Cup campaign in Group G against Portugal in Salvador on June 16 before taking on Ghana and the Jurgen Klinsmann-coached United States.

Having made his international debut back in March 2001 and despite his increasing years, Klose said he is still one of the fastest in Germany's training sessions.

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Veteran Germany striker Miroslav Klose has said he wants to break Ronaldo's record of 15 World Cup goals before stepping down from international duty after Brazil 2014.

Having scored 14 goals for Germany at the last three World Cup tournaments, Lazio's Klose is just one short of Brazil legend Ronaldo's record.

"I can't say that doesn't interest me, I'm too ambitious for that, but the team always comes first," Klose, who is set to make his 131st appearance for Germany in Wednesday's friendly with Chile, told Munich-based daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The ex-Bayern Munich star has struggled with injuries this season after a foot operation in September, then a shoulder problem in November, and he says Euro 2016 will probably be beyond him.

"I think that the World Cup in Brazil is to be my last tournament," said the 35-year-old.

"The way my fitness is, I find it hard to assume I could play for two more years at the highest level."

TOUGH POOL

Germany kick-off their World Cup campaign in Group G against Portugal in Salvador on June 16 before taking on Ghana and the Jurgen Klinsmann-coached United States.

Klose's contract expires in June and while Lazio are reported to want to offer him a year's extension on a reduced salary, the striker is considering offers from the United States and United Arab Emirates.

"Thank god there are so many interesting opportunities," said Klose.

"Speculation doesn't help anyone but I am sure I want to keep playing at the highest possible level."

Having made his international debut back in March 2001 and despite his increasing years, Klose said he is still one of the fastest in Germany's training sessions.

"During the sprints, I am in the top five, rather than the top three, but not many people know what a tough guy I am," he said, having forged the reputation as a notoriously hard worker in training.

Stoke City travelled to the Etihad last week with the hope of capitalising on Manchester City’s recent defeat at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League. The visitors, defending deep, coped well with the considerable attacking power of Man City and were unlucky not to take the lead when Charlie Adam had a shot palmed wide by keeper Joe Hart.

The Potters will be hoping to return to the form, which had seen them go 3 games unbeaten before their trip to the Etihad.

With 12 Attacking contributions (crosses, passes, shots on target and dribbles) The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that Peter Crouch proved to be Stokes most dangerous player at the Etihad. Crouch completed 12 passes in the opposition half; more than any other Stoke player.

Marko Arnautovic played an integral role in containing City’s firepower upfront.  With a tackle win percentage of 100%, equally important to the Potter’s stubborn defensive display was Ryan Shawcross.  The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that he made 12 defensive contributions during his sides defeat and has the highest number of defensive contributions at the club with 307.

Following his double strike which gave Stoke a rare win at Old Trafford, Charlie Adam will be hoping to build on his recent form and add to his current season which has seen him become Stoke’s top striker with a total of 6 goals

Sergio Aguero has been passed fit to make his Manchester City comeback in Sunday's League Cup final against Sunderland, but injured pair Stevan Jovetic and Matija Nastasic will miss out.

Aguero, 25, who is City's 26-goal top scorer this term, has sat out their last five games after suffering a hamstring injury in the 5-1 win over Tottenham on January 29.

However, Aguero will return after a month on the sidelines as manager Manuel Pellegrini considers whether the striker is fit enough to start at Wembley.

"It is something I must decide from seeing the way he recovers from the work this week, whether he is 100% fit after his injury to play the whole match," Pellegrini said. "It is very important for the team to have Sergio again with us because he is a very important player."

Nastasic, 20, who has been struggling with a knee injury, and Jovetic, 24, who suffered a hamstring problem in last week's win over Stoke, have not recovered in time.

"Jovetic and Nastasic are both injured," Pellegrini said. "They cannot be there on Sunday. All the rest of the squad are okay apart from [third-choice goalkeeper] Richard Wright, who has a problem with his knee."

City are expected to win at Wembley but Pellegrini is guarding against complacency, pointing out that Sunderland have already beaten two tough sides during this season's competition.

"Maybe we are the favourites but we cannot forget Sunderland eliminated Chelsea and Manchester United, big teams so I am absolutely sure it will be a tough game," he said.

Pellegrini could win his first trophy as City manager on Sunday, and he added: "I will be very happy if we achieve it because it reflects all your work from the year. We have played a very good Capital One Cup because we won all the games, we score 19 or 20 goals and conceded just one."

Jose Mourinho won the Champions League at Inter because I had built a team with a strong mentality - Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini could not be more relaxed. We have just finished talking about Galatasaray’s Champions League meeting with Chelsea and he invites me to stay and watch him take training.

As we wander over, Didier Drogba, who will face his former side tomorrow for the first time since helping them become champions of Europe, is entrancing his colleagues with the skills that made him a Chelsea legend.

Despite having Drogba, Mancini admitted to me only moments earlier:  “We don’t have a lot of chance even at home because Chelsea are better, one of the best teams in Europe. But for Galatasaray to just play Chelsea is an important moment and we need to do a good job.”

However, this does not mean Mancini feels inferior to Jose Mourinho. Mancini was sacked by Inter Milan in 2008 less than a fortnight after winning Serie A for the third time in a row. In came Mourinho, who within two seasons had outshone his predecessor by winning the Treble and making them European champions for the first time since 1965. Would Mancini accept this makes Mourinho’s record better?

“No,” answers Mancini emphatically. “Mourinho won the Champions League (right) because he took a good team. He took a team that, like Manchester City, I had built. A team that had a strong mentality. When I went to Inter, they played very bad football and we changed this.

“To win a Champions League you should be lucky. Champions League is a difficult competition but a strange one. Strange because you can win your group in October, November, December and, after maybe February [in the knock-out stages], everything can change.”

His own life has changed since he was sacked by Manchester City the day after last year’s FA Cup Final defeat by Wigan. After a few months back in Italy, he arrived in Istanbul in October and says: “After City I decided to stay at home for 10 months to recover from the rain in Manchester.” But, while he laughs at this familiar description of Manchester weather, he does not find remotely funny the equally widely held view that his successor, Manuel Pellegrini, has revolutionised City.

“This is what they say now but you know I changed [football] history in Manchester. I changed Manchester City history on the pitch. Those first two years in Manchester were very difficult. You needed to work hard. I took a team that didn’t win for a long time and, in three years, I changed their mentality. City became a winning team and started to win at home, win away. When we won the championship, we won all the games at home, only one draw against Sunderland. We won in Manchester against United easy, 6-1. We dominated all the games against Manchester United and they were not a small team. For two years, we were the best team in the Premier League. All these top players that are in City now I bought: Nasri, Yaya, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko.”

He also claims credit for bringing  Fernandinho to the Etihad despite the Brazilian’s £30million arrival in July being two months after Mancini’s exit. The Italian says: “I bought him in January because I thought Fernandinho was a good player for us.”

But surely Pellegrini has removed the shackles Mancini imposed on the team? City have scored 69 goals in 26 games this term; at the same stage under Mancini last season they had 48 goals.

Jose Mourinho has commented on the possibility of acquiring two of the biggest names in French football during an interview with Canal Football Club, via Goal.com.

The Chelsea manager spoke of his thoughts about his team's lack of a striker and mused over the stability of both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Radamel Falcao at their current clubs.

On the possibility of signing either player, the "Special One" said:

Zlatan to Chelsea? It’s impossible. He’s happy at Paris. I know because he is my friend and we are in touch. PSG, with all its wealth, would never open the door. That’s mission impossible. 

I have a team, but no striker. Falcao does not have a team. A player like him can't play in front of 3,000 people. Monaco is a club to end [your career with].

Ibrahimovic has been in sparkling form this season, firing his club toward the brink of the last-eight of the Champions League. He has scored a magnificent 32 goals in 31 games for Paris Saint-Germain this year, per Whoscored.com.

A goal at the death from Layvin Kurzawa salvaged three points for les Rouge et Blanc to keep their hopes of challenging for the Ligue 1 title alive

Monaco boss Claudio Ranieri admits his side enjoyed "the luck of champions" as they snatched a 3-2 win over Stade de Reims at the Stade Louis II on Friday.

Two goals from Prince Oniangue looked to have secured the visitors a point after Valere Germain and Jeremy Toulalan had twice put les Rouge et Blanc in front, but Layvin Kurzawa tapped home in the dying seconds to claim a vital win for the hosts.

Ranieri was understandably delighted to have secured the three points to keep the pressure on Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain - particularly as he did not believe his side played to their potential.

"Luck of champions? Yes, I agree. This is the truth," the Italian told BeIn Sport after the match.

"It was a very difficult game, but Reims are a very good, solid team, who played very well. I don't think they deserved to lose because they played a great game.

"My team played very well at the start. Afterwards, we were too stretched. Reims played some good football and showed themselves to be very compact.

"Before we scored the goal, it was a poor game. It's good to win this kind of game because when it finishes, you can tell yourself you didn't play that well."

Monaco's win moves them to within two points of PSG ahead of the champions' clash with Toulouse on Sunday.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez is determined to repay the supporters’ faith in him by achieving all of his dreams as a Liverpool player.

The Uruguayan has endured a turbulent spell during his time at Anfield which has included biting, racist and diving allegations.

However, following a ten game ban at the end of last season which carried into this campaign, he has been in the form of his life and now wants to fire Brendan Rodger’s side into the Champions League.

In an exclusive interview with the Liverpool Echo, he said: “The fans have helped me so much.

“Everyone knows that I had some difficult times last summer.

“But they have always supported me and always had confidence in me. I really feel that support in my heart.

“I think this has been the best season of my career so far. It’s my job to score goals and create goals, and help the team.”

The 27-year-old has grabbed 23 goals this season in 21 matches and although he believes the title is probably out of reach, the main objective is to qualify for next seasons Champions League.

“Can we win the title? I’m not sure. I think this season the Premier League is so difficult. Every team can lose games. Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal have been dropping points.

“To be in the Champions League is what we all want. This is our objective – to play in it next season.”

And Suarez, who leads the top scorer charts this season, admits it is his dream to play in the Champions League for the Reds.

“When I arrived here I said it was my dream to play for Liverpool and play Champions League here. I know I can achieve my dreams here.”

Liverpool face Swansea at home on Sunday.