Van Basten embarks on long goodbye

When the Netherlands' UEFA EURO 2008™ run ends, so too will Marco van Basten's reign and the 43-year-old coach is determined to go out with a bang, adding a winners' medal to the one he claimed as a player in 1988.

'We want to win'
The Dutch will kick off their campaign against Italy in Berne on 9 June and their coach is hoping to glean as much as he can from five friendlies beforehand. First up is fellow finalists Croatia in Split on Wednesday and the man dubbed San Marco – Saint Marco – is in no doubt about what he wants from the game. "We are now preparing for the final mission," he said. "The friendly matches like this against Croatia are to practice and prepare, but at the European Championship we will go for the main prize. We want to win."

New approach
To that end, the AC Milan legend is keen to mine the wealth of experience in the squad, and after a meeting with a number of senior players he opted to depart from the 4-3-3 formation that has been the staple for the Oranje for 35 years. Instead they will adopt a 4-2-3-1; almost sacrilege for the nation of Total Football, though Van Basten believes it is only a minor departure, saying: "It could also be labelled a 4-3-3 with an attacking midfielder. But it is not important what name you give it; it is only important that we find a system in which the players feel good."

Fresh horizon
The direction for Van Basten is less opaque and having stated in December that he was stepping down as Netherlands coach as it was "time for something new", it is not yet clear what that is. A return to AFC Ajax, the club where he took his first steps as striker and reserve team coach, looks on the cards though, yet before he goes anywhere Van Basten has other things on his mind, explaining: "I do not want to talk about Ajax too much now; I want to concentrate on the European Championship."