Marco van Basten - The Football Legend Quiz

Answer: Johan Cruijff

The pupil substituting the master. A symbolic moment for Marco van Basten who went on to score a goal at his debut in a 5-0 win over NEC Nijmegen. Always a promising sign of things to come.

Answer: 37

That's right...37 goals! He even scored 6 goals during one match against Sparta Rotterdam. Needless to say, by then the eyes of scouts from all the major football leagues were fixed on this huge talent.

Answer: FC Lokomotive Leipzig

The final in Athens was a disappointing one. Despite Van Basten's early header the match wouldn't burst into life. The East Germans showed that they were resilient opposition, capable of disrupting Ajax's attacking flow, but lacking the technical skills to turn the game around.

Oh, in the 66th minute some rookie named Dennis Bergkamp came on... But that's something for another quiz.

Answer: Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi was the prime minister of Italy for three separate periods of time in the 1990s (once) and 2000s (twice). The man who told victims of the Abruzzo earthquake to regard their stay in makeshift lodgings "like a weekend of camping" clearly had his sensible moments, too!

Answer: Frank Rijkaard

With Ruud "the Black Tulip" Gullit and Frank Rijkaard at his side, Van Basten led AC Milan to three Serie A titles, three Italian Super Cups, two European Cups (precursor to the Champions League), two European Super Cups and two World Cups. Not bad at all.

Answer: a top-spin volley over the keeper from a tight angle

It went in over the flabbergasted head of the best goalkeeper in the world at the time, Rinat Dasaev of the USSR. The goal was so inconceivable that it took a while for everyone to register what had just happened. The Dutch commentator said matter-of-factly: "Van Basten...good" and then continued as he saw the ball going in, "Oh... WHAT A GOAL! WHAT A GOAL! MAN, WHAT A MAGNIFICENT GOAL!". Goosebumps every time (except if you're Russian). Holland went on to win the final 2-0, claiming their first major piece of silverware.

Answer: World Footballer of the Year

The best in the world! The highest achievement for any football player on this planet. That same year saw Van Basten also crowned European Footballer of the Year. He received that honor for the third time in his career, thereby equalling his former teacher Johan Cruijff.

"Schwalbe" is German for "swallow" (the bird). It means a fake dive as if a foul has been committed in order to get your opponent sent off or persuade the referee to give a penalty kick. Thankfully, it is punishable by a yellow card these days. Somehow the name stuck and we use the German word in the Netherlands.

Answer: San Siro

After two years of operations and physiotherapy, Van Basten threw in the towel in 1995. The lost Champions League final of 1993 proved to have been his last game. His popularity, relatively young age, the long battle against his body, the lost hope of a return of "San Marco" added up to make the event highly emotional for all present.

His coach Fabio Capello sat in the dig out, crying, as fans kept on cheering him and applauding. Van Basten, however, remained cool and collected as ever.

Answer: 3

Marco van Basten already had his first taste of golf in the '80s, but almost daily practice at the golf courses of Monaco and Cannes saw him making serious progress once his active career was over. Van Basten occasionally participates in pro-am events, such as the KLM Dutch Open en het Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. As an amateur, to be precise.

Answer: Clarence Seedorf

Seedorf complained that Marco van Basten treated him like a little school boy, despite being a key player of AC Milan. In his days as manager of the national squad and later at Ajax, Van Basten did seem to have issues interacting with his players. People called him an aloof, cold individualist: possibly the same qualities that made him an exceptional lethal striker during his active career.