Van Basten Appointed As New Netherlands Assistant Coach

Netherlands legend Marco van Basten has returned to the national team as assistant coach to new boss Danny Blind. Blind had previously been serving as Guus Hiddink's right-hand man but moved into the hot seat on July 1 following the latter's decision to stand down last month.

The former defender thus decided to turn to Van Basten, whom he served under at Ajax, to fill the void.

AC Milan great Van Basten had been working alongside John van den Brom at AZ but has now formally accepted the chance to return to the international arena.


"I'm really looking forward to this interesting job and also look forward to the renewed collaboration with Danny Blind," the iconic striker said.

"I had to make a difficult choice, because the role at AZ was to my liking. Blind convinced me of the challenge of the national team."

As a player, Van Basten inspired Netherlands to glory at Euro 88, while the 50-year-old also coached his country between 2004 and 2008.