Basta

My Life, My Truth

*****

Shortlisted for International Autobiography of the Year in the Telegraph Sports Book Awards 2021

'This account is often poetic and sometimes haunting.' - FourFourTwo

Triple European Footballer of the Year. Once World Footballer of the Year. European Champion two UEFA Super Cups, European Champion with the Dutch National Team in 1988 and numerous national championships with both Ajax and AC Milan. Marco van Basten is known as one of the greatest footballers of all time, but his personal life has always remained somewhat of a mystery, until now.

Basta is the raw, honest, but above all gripping autobiography of Marco van Basten.

It's the unfiltered story of his rise to fame, from being under the wing of Cruyff and experiencing life as an Ajax player to being propelled into the spotlight following Euros '88 - and scoring the greatest goal ever to win a major final - and playing for AC Milan at the peak of Italian football's popularity.

But despite countless successes, Marco van Basten experienced many low points, including losing a childhood friend, battling with pain after his numerous fluffed operations, and ultimately coming to terms with life after playing football.

Basta is his story.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Marco van Basten (P)2020 Octopus Publishing Group

Brilliant story of my childhood idol

Great to hear the inside story of a champion & his incessant battles with his ankle intermingled with such a fabulous career that ended sadly far too soon :(

Raw and Powerful

Marco Van Basten ranked with the top of my soccer heroes. When I was a teenager in Switzerland, my father and I used to travel with the Milan club of Zurich to the San Siro as often as possible. Basta was the finest goal scorer that I ever saw play live.

Now he has written the most raw and powerful autobiography of any athlete that I’ve ever read. He spares none of the pain and misery he suffered trying in vain for three years to salvage a once-glittering career blown up by injury far too early at 28.

As someone who became permanently disabled at 38, I empathize with this account—though I was just a cog-in-the-machine lawyer. Marco was the greatest forward of his generation. Indeed he was probably the finest striker until Ronaldo (the CR7 variety) and the non-striker forward Messi.