Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy worshipped him for his style . Van Basten was the most elegant of strikers : tall , straightbacked , all sinew and little muscle , with long unprotected legs that would be his downfall
Born in 1964 , the son of a semi-professional player , Van Basten made the perfect debut for Ajax . Aged 17 , he came on as substitute for Johan Cruijff and scored . A year later he was playing for Holland . He was a nearly complete center-forward , who scored all sorts of different goals with both feet : dribbles , drives , and a variety of lobs .
His peak was brief but beautiful . In 1988 , he wasn ’ t meant to play in that summer ’ s European Championship . Out injured almost all season , he had slipped to third in Holland ’ s hierarchy of strikers . Cruijff , his mentor , counselled the Dutch Solution : walk out of the tournament .
Van Basten stayed , secretly smoking cigarettes in the Dutch camp , got into the team for the second game against England , and scored a hat-trick . In the semi-final , Holland beat the hosts West Germany thanks to Van